FanHouse JerryPunch

Thanks to a new deal that the IRL IndyCar Series inked with the cable television network Versus in 2008, ESPN ended up with just five of the series' 17 2009 events after being the permanent home of the open wheelers for many years.

And, as a result, the Worldwide Leader ended up with a glut of talent for its broadcasting efforts -- forcing a few benefits into the hand of NASCAR television watchers.

Those benefits, as the broadcaster announced today with a press release, include expanded NASCAR roles for standard IndyCar lap-by-lap point man Marty Reid and longtime IndyCar pit reporter Vince Welch.

Reid, who I think is a much more exciting lap-by-lap guy than ESPN's Sprint Cup guy Jerry Punch (he reminds of the nearly always monotonous Joe Buck on FOX), will be taking on a more pronounced lap-by-lap role in the second half of the Nationwide Series season. In the past, Punch has been responsible for the majority of Nationwide and Sprint Cup broadcasts in the second half of the season.

And, as many of you know, 2009 won't be Reid's first Nationwide Series rodeo as the broadcaster has done a handful of races in the past two years in an effort to give Punch a break here and there.

So do you remember when TallGlassofMilk reported that Dale Jarrett would be taking over Rusty Wallace's spot in ESPN's booth back in October? (October 17th, to be exact)

Well, a lot of things have happened since then, but one thing is for sure. TGOM was right.

From the ESPN mouth itself:

Dale Jarrett, the 1999 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and one of the founding drivers of the NASCAR Nationwide Series, will expand his role with ESPN and join high school friends Dr. Jerry Punch and Andy Petree in the booth for ESPN¿s full season of NASCAR coverage in 2008.

Rusty Wallace, NASCAR Cup champion in 1989, will become lead analyst for ESPN studio programs in 2008, highlighted by serving as analyst for an enhanced NASCAR Countdown, the program that precedes all NASCAR telecasts.

I know I'm very, very satisfied with this move. What about you?

There was plenty of anti-ESPN sentiment through the end of 2007, though former-driver-turned-broadcaster Wallace shouldn't take all of the blame. Regardless, fans were by and far unhappy with some of Wallace's on-air thoughts, there seemed to be some occasional in-fighting amongst last year's ESPN team with Rusty, and, to me at least, Wallace just didn't have "it" when it came to working a race on TV.

So now, we'll get Wallace nearly every night on ESPN2's NASCAR Now as a lead analyst and as an infield studio reporter during races. I think I can handle that.

The booth changes, though, are just the start of many, many changes in the ESPN NASCAR telecasts in 2008, including:

We've heard plenty about "Coltgate" lately and the accusations that the Indianapolis Colts had pumped in crowd noise during the New England Patriots game two weeks ago.

CBS took the rap for the incident, but ESPN's NASCAR coverage apparently took note of the idea.

Judging from the TV I watched it on (ABC-HD with surround sound), it sounded to me like ESPN on ABC was definitely pumping in some crowd noise during each restart of last Sunday's Checker Auto Parts 500. Take a listen for yourself on the video below, as there are several instances that you can hear the not-too-natural noises.

Take note at 1:30, 5:48, 8:24, and 9:30 on the video, then continue reading for more.



I understand completely that the YouTube video isn't exactly the highest quality, but on the other hand, I've been to my fair share of races. People just don't cheer like that during restarts. Here's what they do cheer for:

UPDATE: After chatting with Andy Hall, the manager of media relations for ESPN Communications, it seems that this break for Jerry and Dave Burns was something worked into the schedule.

"Jerry will be back in the booth at Phoenix. His (and Dave Burns') two weeks off are part of a schedule for the year that rotates time off for our announcers. Between the 35 Busch races and the 17 Cup races, we're doing 52 races this year, plus practice and qualifying shows for a lot of those, so these guys are going to be very busy," said Hall.

He also mentioned that Rusty Wallace won't be back for another ten Busch races as he covers the Indianapolis 500, with Jarrett filling in.

So have no fear, Dr. Jerry Punch will be in the booth for each Cup race presented by ESPN, and expect to see Marty Reid doing a couple of other races as well.

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Hidden beneath the news that Dale Jarrett will serve as a substitute for Rusty Wallace for ESPN2's Busch Series coverage on Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway, Dr. Jerry Punch isn't returning to the TV booth for a second straight week.

Marty Reid, the lead announcer for the Indy Racing League on ESPN and ABC for 2006 and 2007, will again be featured in the booth as lead play-by-play announcer alongside Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree. Reid is in the spot of Punch, the man who was originally designated for the spot for both the early season Busch Series races and the Nextel Cup series events that ESPN and ABC will cover later this season.