FOX SPORTS NOTES, QUOTES & ANECDOTES
Waltrip: “I Expect The Track Record To Be Broken In Qualifying At Bristol”
NASCAR on FOX Restarts At 12:30 PM ET This Sunday In Bristol
NASCAR ON FOX HEADS TO BRISTOL – Following its first week-off, the 2011 NASCAR on FOX schedule continues on Sunday, March 20 (12:30 PM ET) with NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing from Bristol Presented by GoDaddy.com. Familiar names have reached victory lane and head the top of the standings one month into the new campaign. Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards have all knotted victories while Busch and Tony Stewart share the Sprint Cup points lead heading into Bristol. Coverage starts with the NASCAR on FOX prerace show hosted by Chris Myers, along with analysts Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Hammond. The show airs LIVE from pit road at Bristol Motor Speedway with updates from the Hollywood Hotel, FOX Sports’ traveling prerace set providing updates from drivers, crewmen and officials shaping the day’s action. In this week’s prerace show, Edwards sits down with Waltrip.
Once the green flag drops, the voice of NASCAR Mike Joy is alongside analysts Waltrip and Larry McReynolds to call all the twists and turns on the track while Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Krista Voda and Matt Yocum patrol the pits for reports on teams and pit stops.
WALTRIP: CAR, TIRE, & TRACK WEAR PROMISE EPIC BRISTOL SHOWDOWN – The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series makes its first stop at the ½ mile concrete oval and NASCAR on FOX analyst Darrell Waltrip feels that the new cars and tires combined with the new track at Bristol will lead to some exciting racing. “You’ve all seen and heard the amazing statistics following the first three NASCAR Sprint Cup races of the year,” said Waltrip. “Simply put, the racing is better. I actually expect the track record to be broken in qualifying at Bristol. These cars are just bad-fast this year.”
For more from Waltrip’s column on FOXSports.com click here: http://j.mp/f81wKL
MCREYNOLDS: EARNHARDT JR IS CLOSE TO VICTORY LANE – NASCAR on FOX analyst Larry McReynolds spoke to radio personality Lee Hamilton on XX1090 sports radio in San Diego, CA earlier today. McReynolds offered his thoughts on Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Juan Pablo Montoya and unveiled what driver will be a breakout star this season:
Tony Stewart:
“When you look at the first races of 2011, with the click of a dial, instead of talking about three different winners, we could’ve been talking about Tony Stewart winning the first three races. He lost his drafting partner (Mark Martin) on his last restart of the Daytona 500, took two tires late in the race in Phoenix which didn’t turn out well for him and unfortunately because of a pit road penalty in Las Vegas he didn’t win, but finished in second place. I don’t think he’s done winning races.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr.:
“I truly believe Jr. is close to getting back to victory lane. Darrell Waltrip and I like this driver/crew chief combination of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Steve Letarte. As we know, he’s driving with Jeff Gordon’s pit crew team from last year. He’s been very consistent and competitive in these races thus far this season. I don’t think it’s going to be that long before we’re talking about Earnhardt Jr., ending this winless streak.”
Juan Pablo Montoya:
“I know how bad he wants to win on an oval. The biggest thing he and his race team have got to figure out is how to put the beginning, the middle and the end of the race together. At the same time, Montoya has to learn how to control his emotions. He has that mentality of ‘if you hit me once, I’m going to hit you back five times.’”
2011’s Breakthrough Star:
“The guy I’ve been keeping a close watch on is Paul Menard. I don’t know if he’s ready to breakout and contend for a championship yet but Menard could be our next driver to get his first career win.”
FOXSPORTS.COM’s LUNCH WITH BENEFITS BARFLY – In a new edition to FOXSports.com’s “Lunch With Benefits” lineup, national columnist Mark Kriegel hosts BARFLY, a candid, topical, sports-centric show where viewers get to eavesdrop on conversations with sport’s and entertainment’s biggest personalities each Tuesday at 1:00 PM ET. In this week’s edition, Kriegal sat down with nine-time NBA All-Star Gary Payton and 1990 NCAA Championship-winning coach Jerry Tarkanian. Tarkanian and Payton discuss the issue of whether college athletes should be paid, recruiting, Tarkanian’s Hall of Fame coaching status and BYU guard Jimmer Fredette’s potential as an NBA star: http://msn.foxsports.com/video/shows/barfly.
FOX SOCCER KICKS-OFF 2011 MLS SLATE – FOX Soccer begins its 2011 Major League Soccer coverage live Saturday, March 19 (9:00 PM ET) with a national introduction of the Portland Timbers, one of two expansion teams, and a re-introduction to the reigning MLS Cup Champion Colorado Rapids, from Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, CO. U.S. Men’s National Team member Conor Casey (13 goals, six assists in 2010) and Omar Cummings (14 goals) lead the Rapids in defense of their MLS title. The Timbers, meanwhile, upgraded their squad with the likes of former MLS All-Star striker Kenny Cooper, in from 1860 Munich, and solid MLS veteran keeper Troy Perkins. Play-by-play voice Mark Rogandino joins analyst and former MLS standout Kyle Martino and sideline reporter Keith Bleyer in bringing viewers the first of FOX Soccer’s 31 regular-season MLS matches. Former U.S. National Team and MLS players Eric Wynalda and Christopher Sullivan team up for the pregame, halftime and postgame coverage from FOX Soccer’s Los Angeles studio. For the latest MLS news, information and FOX Soccer’s 2011 telecast schedule, visit: http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/mls.
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