NBC drew a 2.6 overnight rating for its rain-marred return to NASCAR coverage, as the Sprint Cup Series Coke Zero 400 from Daytona Int'l Speedway aired from 11:15pm-2:30am ET yesterday following a three-hour delay. NBC drew a 2.1 overnight for the rain delay coverage from 8:00-11:15pm. Meanwhile, NBCSN on Saturday night from 7:30-10:00pm drew a 0.8 overnight for coverage of the Xfinity Series Subway Firecracker 250 from DIS (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
STARTING LINE: In Tampa, Tom Jones writes NBC "came out of the box strong with its first step" into NASCAR since '06. It was "nice to see someone else covering NASCAR besides Fox." Jones: "I used to think Fox did a decent job, but the broadcast team, with its chummy, biased attitude toward drivers and everything NASCAR pretty much sabotaged the outstanding production values. Maybe Fox's coverage will improve next season with Jeff Gordon moving into the booth." NBC analysts Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte "are a welcome change." For NBC, "it was a professional and strong weekend, especially considering it had to deal with the weather delays" last night (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 7/6).
TWITTER REAX: Social media was saturated with comments on NBC's coverage, with the net receiving mostly favorable reviews. Motorsport.com's Jim Utter: "NBC coverage is exactly as I envisioned - smooth, professional coverage of the actual RACE." USA Today's Jeff Gluck: "I've noticed @NASCARonNBC turns around video clips for Twitter posting really quickly. That's cool." Gluck polled his followers on NBC's coverage and later reported, "WOW. After the first 250 votes, a whopping 96 PERCENT of you give NBC's NASCAR coverage a thumbs up so far." SB Nation's Jordan Bianchi: "Steve Letarte is fantastic in the broadcast booth. Candid. Insightful. Astute analysis." Yahoo Sports' Nick Bromberg: "No, NBC, those aren't the pit stall assignments. You just ordered them by number." Tennessee-based WJHL-CBS' Jake Young: "These NBC on NASCAR guys are doing a heckuva job on opening weekend. That explanation about features of the car to avoid lift was great."
