Jeff Gordon Coverage An Example Of NASCAR’s Issues

By Brian Thornsburg | Nov 7, 2015

There’s such thing as too much of a good thing. I have no doubt in my mind that NBCSN reached that threshold during their post-race coverage of Gordon’s 9^th career win at Martinsville Speedway. Sure, I’ll admit that Gordon deserved his moment in the sun, especially with his impending retirement at the end of the 2015, but the way that the celebration was covered should have NBCSN feeling embarrassed and ashamed.

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Why you might ask?

Well, let’s start with the fact that while Gordon’s victory lane celebration was being covered by every angle possible, NBCSN neglected to interview the other top finishers in Sunday’s race at Martinsville. In fact, the coverage was so focused on covering Gordon’s every move that you almost forget that there were 42 other competitors on the track that afternoon.

Again, Jeff Gordon deserved his moment in the sun, but NBCSN could have at least interviewed some of the big players after Sunday’s race. Not doing so only showed how biased the network was and also shoved a lot of other deserving drivers out of the spotlight as well. If fans are wondering why NASCAR can’t create new stars, look no further then this as an example why.

AJ Allmendinger was the man that Jeff Gordon had to pass for the race win on Sunday, but NBCSN seemed to forget all about that. Jamie McMurray hung on to finish second, but he wasn’t important enough to receive a post-race interview. As for Tony Stewart’s tenth place finish in Sundays race, not even mentioned on the post-race show!

Whether fans want to admit it or not, this is the problem with the sport of NASCAR. The networks only want to focus on one particular aspect of the race, usually the thing they deem to be the most interesting and valuable, and completely forget about every other story that played itself out during a race.

Like it or not, Jeff Gordon’s career is almost over, and the sport is not going to move on regardless of if we put too much focus on a veterans retirement tour. Does the story deserve attention? Definitely, but to devote an entire post-race show to his victory lane celebration is beyond frustrating and almost a slap in the face to every other driver in the series.

It’s a proven fact that we can’t focus on the future if were too focused on the past and NBCSN seems to have no interest in promoting the future drivers of this sport. Seriously, when was the last time you’ve seen NBCSN or anyone for that matter even attempt an interview with Kyle Larson, Austin Dillon or Trevor Bayne?

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That’s the biggest problem, fortunately for NASCAR, the answer is simple. NBCSN Fox Sports and other media outlets need to do a better job of highlighting the younger drivers in this sport. I’m not saying to be focused on them every single moment of every race, but at least acknowledge they exist and give them time to showcase their personalities on camera.

Lastly, just let these young stars rise to the occasion. Give them a chance to show the fans who they really are and what they really can do behind the wheel of stock car. Believe it or not, this the only way to move the sport forward and it starts by changing the way the sport is covered by media.

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