WATKINS GLEN, New York (August 4, 2019) -- The NASCAR Nation is parked in the “Finger Lakes” region of New York for the tour’s annual pilgrimage to Watkins Glen International for the Go Bowling at the Glen, while the Formula 1 World Championship takes on Hungary. Here is your Motorsports TV Schedule for Sunday, August 4, 2019...
Racing Wives is a new reality series airing on CMT beginning in August 2019. (Racing Wives/BPG Agency)
By: Daniel Vining, Twitter: @danielvining
PENSACOLA, Florida (August 3, 2019) -- Racing Wives, a reality show revolving around the wives of the Busch brothers, Austin Dillon’s wife, and her best friend, debuted on Friday night on CMT.
The show features Samantha Busch, Kyle’s wife, Ashley Busch, Kurt’s wife, Whitney Ward Dillon, Austin’s wife, and Mariel Lane, fiance’ to Paul Swan who is a pit crew member on Dillon’s Cup Series team.
Trying to not have any expectations, I couldn’t help but wish for a show that is more in line with another NASCAR family-based reality show, NASCAR Drivers 360, which aired in the mid-2000s.
Instead, viewers are presented with a show more in tune with Keeping Up with the Kardashians. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, I’m just not sure if it’s a NASCAR thing.
Amber Balcaen is also featured as a potential driver candidate to drive for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Spoiler, she so far has driven in two races for KBM in 2019, the first at Hickory Motor Speedway and the second at Motor Mile Speedway. Both races were in KBM prepared late models.
I highly doubt that this show will truly engage with the core NASCAR audience, but I don’t think that was the intention. NASCAR is merely the gimmick, while the storylines and personalities of the featured participants are the hook.
The glitz, glamour, pomp and circumstance surrounding these larger than life characters is sure to draw an audience of a certain demographic more in tune with the current MTV generation… which is not centered around music.
All that being said, I don’t see any harm being done here. For those that are in to this type of TV show, I’m sure it will have it’s enjoyable moments.
Overall, however, I see this show being panned by the majority of NASCAR fandom, and if it cannot stand on its own without that “built-in” viewer base, the show will not last.
But that’s just my two cents. What are yours? Leave your comments, but please be respectful to each other.
Also, if you enjoyed this content, smash the LIKE button and SHARE this post… it really does help a ton.
PixelatedSPEED is a motorsports news and views website covering all things racing and has been “Bringing Pixels 2 Pavement Since 2018”. If you've made it this far into the post, thank you. Please consider sharing this content on the interwebs and following PixelatedSPEED on Facebook and Twitter and joining in on the conversation. http://facebook.com/PixelatedSPEED & http://twitter.com/PixelatedSPEED
BRISTOL, Connecticut (February 10, 2019) -- The motorsports world was shocked with the announcement that the very popular racing news digest site, Jayski.com, would be shutting down effective at the close of the business day on January 28th.
Jay Adamczyk, aka “Jayski” posted only one entry to the website on that day.
“We didn't get to scoop our own news! :-) Thanks for 22+ great years. Today is the final day for http://Jayski.com . We appreciate all your support. It's been an honor to work for ESPN. We aren't sure what's next for us (Jay, Scott -@SLPAGE and, Amanda) but stay tuned.”
Jayski’s NASCAR Silly Season Site was founded in 1996 by Adamczyk, an Air Force veteran and life-long NASCAR fan. Adamczyk got the name Jayski from his colleagues while serving and the moniker has stuck ever since.
The site was initially created because Jayski couldn’t find information on the Melling Racing team, which frustrated the founder. He began sourcing, and posting updates about all the news and rumors he could find across the NASCAR world.
Jayksi.com served as a daily digest of anything and everything related to NASCAR. Jayski sourced material from dozens of outlets across the web and centralized those snippets onto the website, creating a hub of news and information that sometimes saw drivers learning about their fates with teams before finding out from their own teams first.
Having your content featured on the Jayski website was a big deal for many journalists throughout the years, including myself. The thought, “I’ve made it!” popped into my mind the first time that a piece of my content found its way to the front page.
While Jayski.com began in 1996, it wasn’t until 2003 that I discovered the website. In a time before Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, this website quickly became the daily stop where I found my NASCAR news. Not long after finding Jayski, I had decided that I too, wanted to create a NASCAR-centric website, launching the first iteration of The Speedzine in 2003 based on a very similar format to that of Jayski.com.
My website continued to evolve through several iterations, finding its own way in the racing news landscape, and in late 2012, one of my articles found its way onto the frontpage of Jayski.com.
From a post on The Speedzine Facebook page back in 2012:
“Today, roughly two weeks away from the launch of the newest incarnation of TheSpeedzine.com, I am very excited to see one of my articles make it to the famed Cup Series page on Jayski.com.” “While this is a momentous occasion for myself, it is only the beginning. 2013 looks to be a grand year for my journalism career. Thank you Jayski, for your inspiration, dedication, and sharing my story. Much more to come... stay tuned!”
I credit this website as one of the building blocks to what is now PixelatedSPEED, and hope that Jay and his crew make a return in some capacity in the near future.
In 2007, ESPN purchased Jayski.com as a part of a resurgence of NASCAR coverage for the outlet. Jayski, Scott Page and Amanda Brooks continued to provide coverage on the website through several changes after the ESPN purchase, including a rather unpopular redesign in 2017 that saw the site become fully incorporated into the ESPN format and structure.
After ESPN’s departure from NASCAR coverage following the 2014 season, the “Worldwide Leader in Sports” began divesting itself from all its various NASCAR roots. As a part of company-wide layoffs in 2017, Allen Bestwick and Jerry Punch departed along with the majority of its NASCAR journalism staff in 2018; with Bob Pockrass, and Ricky Craven also leaving.
There was a copious amount of support toward Jayski and his crew following the announcement from colleagues around the racing world.
Fox Sports’ Mike Joy:
“Thanks Jay for all you've done.. its been fun to watch your site and presence grow in the sport. Guess this puts the self-named "worldwide leader" three laps down for 2019: @BobPockrass, @RickyCraven32, @jayski.”
Both Pockcrass and Craven are now with Fox Sports for 2019.
NBC Sports’ Nate Ryan:
“Without a doubt, my favorite part of @jayski: Both for the vast knowledge it provided as a clearinghouse for #nascar news/outlets but also because it helped raise my profile in distribution of my work pre-social media (which unfortunately lessened the impact of those link pages).”
Jeff Gluck, JeffGluck.com:
“This is hard to read. I remember when Jayski linking to some of my early NASCAR columns in 2004 felt as big as it gets. Jayski certainly has been a huge part of the NASCAR fabric. Site still had juice even if people didn’t like the ESPN format in recent years.”
He added…
“Someone needs to save the Jayski archives. They really are NASCAR’s history of the last two decades. I still use them today for reminders of when certain announcements or news happened. Would hate to see them disappear.”
I postponed publishing this article hoping that the crew from Jayski.com would quickly land in other places, but that has yet to happen.
Now, Jayski.com is lying dormant, not having been updated since January 28th. It looks as though ESPN has also begun the process of removing the navigational links on the site, as the top navigation bar, which contained the links to the site’s various pages, is now gone.
Scott Page, long time Jayski.com team member, reveled on Reddit that he is open to continuing the website, provided funding can be found to cover the hosting and salary requirements needed to run the project.
"Sure, I just need the money for hosting and a salary and I'm back on it 7 days a week, 18 hours a day like I've done for the last 13+ years," said Page. "Jay is ready to retire, but the site could always live on."
He also provided his insight on the situation and how we ended up here.
"No hard feelings towards ESPN," said Page. "Business is business. It's that way in NASCAR now and it always has been. They gave us a great platform for over 10 years.
"The change in Jayski is as much caused by the change in social media. Anyone can break news now with their own account. If someone knows something, why pass it on to someone else when you can release it yourself?"
Jay Adamczyk:
“As for the future, no idea what happens to Jayski.com as ESPN owns it. No plans to start a new site at the moment. We are all looking at options.”
The @Jayski Twitter handle has remained active, as well as the account of Jayski team member Scott Page, @SLPAGE.
PixelatedSPEED is a motorsports news and views website covering all things racing and has been “Bringing Pixels 2 Pavement Since 2018”. If you've made it this far into the post, thank you. Please consider sharing this content on the interwebs and following PixelatedSPEED on Facebook and Twitter and joining in on the conversation. http://facebook.com/PixelatedSPEED & http://twitter.com/PixelatedSPEED PixelatedSPEED is a part of the Gravel Network. Copyright - 2018, 2019
There must be something strange in the water as this week three of racing’s big names all announced there departures from the sport. Also, the silly season rumor mill continues to churn as questions arise about the reigning Cup Series Champion’s future. Plus, trophies!
Kasey Kahne to Retire at the end of 2018 Season
The biggest story of the week in the NASCAR world had to be Kasey Kahne’s surprise announcement that he will be stepping away from full time NASCAR racing after the conclusion of the 2018 season.
Kahne moved over to the number 95 Leavine Family Racing stable after six years, and lackluster results, at Hendrick Motorsports. The Enumclaw, WA native has decided that he’s had enough of the Cup Series grind and is ready to pursue other things in life.
“It’s all that I really think about when we are having fun, when we’re — whatever it may be — I’m still there. I’m still thinking about racing, and I think it just gets to be a lot. Twenty-five years later, it’s just a lot, and it will be nice to not have that on my mind full-time. So that’s kind of my biggest reason is just to think more about him (son, Tanner), think about other things in life and things that I want to do, achieve, and just not be so deep into racing for a little bit.”
Aside from time with his family, Kahne is going to be able to spend more time with his World of Outlaws sprint car team. Kasey Kahne Racing recently scored a huge victory with driver Brad Sweet at the Knoxville Nationals.
“I feel like I’ll definitely do a little bit more. Our teams are very good,” said Kahne.
“Last week with Brad Sweet winning the Knoxville Nationals was a huge part for KKR. It was a dream for a lot of us to win that race. It was special to be there and cheer him on.”
“I still love that race. And that’s where I started or where I learned how to drive. I could see myself doing 40-50 sprint car races next year.”
Kahne, a former USAC Champion, began his NASCAR Cup Series career in 2004 with Evernham Motorsports. After winning the Rookie of the Year title that year, he went to score his first victory in 2005 at Richmond before scoring six wins in 2006.
Kahne has won the Coke 600 twice, and won last year’s Brickyard 400.
Elliott Sadler to Retire at the End of 2018 Season
Emporia, VA’s Elliott Sadler announced this week that after a span of over two decades, he will be ending his full time NASCAR career at the end of this season.
Sadler began racing in the NASCAR Busch Series in 1995, running four season before moving up to the Winston Cup Series in 1999 with Wood Brothers Racing. His first Cup Series win came in 2001 at Bristol; the first win for the Wood Brothers in eight years.
Sadler moved to Robert Yates Racing in 2003, picking up a victory at Texas in 2004. He continued to race in the Cup Series for Yates, Evernham, and Petty Motorsports through the 2009 season.
In 2010, Sadler and sponsor One Main Financial began racing for Kevin Harvick Inc. in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. After the shutdown of KHI, Sadler continued on under the Richard Childress Racing banner for the next two seasons before taking his sponsor with him to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2013. Sadler spent the 2015 season racing for Roush Fenway Racing.
In 2016, Sadler moved to JR Motorsports, and has been a championship contender ever since.
Sadler was named the Grand Marshall of the Xfinity Series race at Bristol this past week, and gave one the best commands to start a race seen in recent years.
Truex Switching Teams in ‘19 Possible
As the 2018 NASCAR silly season ramps up, rumors have began circulating around the future of 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion Martin Truex Jr.
It was announced a couple of weeks ago that Furniture Row Racing sponsor 5 Hour Energy would be leaving at the end of the year, leaving about half of the number 78 car’s 2019 season open and without sponsorship. FRR owner Barney Visser has stated that he does not wish to once again fund the team out of his own pocket, has he had done since the founding of the team in 2005. However, in a statement released this week, he said that the team will continue in 2019.
"Furniture Row Racing continues to develop sponsorship opportunities for 2019 and beyond. ... Furniture Row Racing not fielding a team in 2019 is not an option and we have every intention of continuing to build on our success for years to come."
Even so, Truex has yet to sign a new contract for next season. When asked about how sure he was about his return to the 78 team next season, he couldn’t answer with confidence.
"That's hard to put a number on," Truex said after practice at Bristol Motor Speedway. "Honestly, I really don't know. I think in another week or two, I'll have a better answer for you, a better percentage.
"Right now, we need sponsorship. That's as simple as it gets. So it's hard to say. Is there a 50 percent chance we get that in a couple weeks or is there a 100 percent chance or is there 2 percent, I don't know. I can tell you that everything really is based upon that."
Should Truex be unable to come to terms at Furniture Row, there are rumors circulating about where he could land, including the soon-to-be vacated seat in the number 95 at Leavine Family Racing after Kasey Kahne retires at the end of this season.
Regular Season Trophies Unveiled
NASCAR unveiled the trophies to be presented to each series’ regular season champions earlier this week.
The two foot trophies feature an engraved spire for each of the various series’ regular season races. This accolade is presented to each regular season champion alongside the other, more pivotal award, 15 additional playoff points.
The first driver to receive his trophy was Johnny Sauter after winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory at Bristol on Thursday and claiming the 2018 regular season title.
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will crown it’s regular season champion at the Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis while the Xfinity Series will conclude their regular season the following week in Las Vegas.
Glenn Jarrett Signs Off at Michigan
Glenn Jarrett, son of NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Ned Jarrett, and brother of NASCAR Champion Dale Jarrett, hung up his microphone following the Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan.
Jarrett is a former NASCAR driver himself, having run 10 races from 1978 to 1983. He then moved to the NASCAR Busch Series, making 67 starts from 1983 to 1993.
Jarrett is most well known as a pit report for TNN Motorsports through the 1990s and early 2000’s. Following the end of the TNN era, Jarrett moved on to SPEED Channel. Jarrett was a common go-to reporter when networks needed an extra hand during weekends where the same network carried events in multiple locations.
Glenn Jarrett finished out his career as a reporter for the Motor Racing Network.
Jarrett offered his appreciation to the racing community on his Twitter account.
Low Entry Count Forces Cancellation of Berlin 251
The week started without the annual Battle at Berlin 251. This event has traditionally been contested the Monday following the Cup race at Michigan but this was canceled due to a low entry count.
Berlin Raceway officials cited the low entry counts to the abundance of other races in the area, including the Kalamazoo Klash, and the upcoming championship runs causing teams and drivers to rethink making the trip to Marne, Michigan this year.
“Thanks to everyone for all the comments and well wishes last night...the fans, the drivers and team members,my comrades at MRN and everyone involved in our sport made this an incredible ride...I'm a lucky guy..I will miss all of you.”
The Digest is a weekly recap of top stories and tidbits from the previous week in the world of motorsports. If you've made it this far into the post, thank you. Please consider sharing this content on the interwebs and following PixelatedSPEED on Facebook and Twitter and joining in on the conversation.
"From design to the racetrack, Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet are giving you an inside look at how a race car comes to life."
Today, Hendrick Motorsports announced the launch of a new web show called "Life of a Race Car." The six part series will feature the life cycle of a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Chevy Camaro ZL1.
The show will air exclusively on Facebook Watch, starting on Thursday, August 23rd.
This is not the first time Hendrick Motorsports has brought original content to Facebook and streaming partners.
In 2017, Hendrick Motorsports partnered with Rated Red to produce a mini-series centered around the then lineup of Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne, and Chase Elliott. The series was called "Road to Race Day and was featured on the now defunct Go90 streaming network owned by Verizon Wireless.
EDITOR'S NOTE: I plan on providing reactionary coverage of each episode during the run. I really enjoyed "Road to Race Day" and feel like this type of content has been missing in the NASCAR TV landscape since the demise of the Speed Channel.
