After a long night, NBC Sports makes strong return

When Rick Allen came through my hometown of Cedar City, Utah with the Kyle Petty Charity Ride in May, he documented parts of the eight-day journey for NBC Sports Network as part of its daily “NASCAR America” news show. Fast forward two months, and a big-time broadcasting goal came to life.
After 12 years as the lead voice of the Camping World Truck Series races on Fox, Allen made his debut with NBC Sports for its official return to NASCAR coverage Saturday and Sunday at Daytona International Speedway. Allen worked alongside 21-time Sprint Cup race winner Jeff Burton and former crew chief Steve Letarte.

For both the Subway Firecracker 250 Xfinity Series race and the Sprint Cup Coke Zero 400, the debut was marked by rain delays. While the Xfinity race was pushed back by only an hour, the Cup race was delayed by nearly four hours.

From the viewer's perspective, I was glad with what I saw. There were fresh voices you don't normally hear from -- one production graphic mentioned 23 different driver interviews happened during the Sunday night rain delay, from Kevin Harvick to Casey Mears to Ward and Jeb Burton along with a surprise visit to the fans by Joey Logano.

In the grand scheme of filling time with any rain delay, it requires all parties working together to corral driver interviews. Between the Countdown to Green studio of Krista Voda, Kyle Petty and Dale Jarrett, the main booth of Allen, Burton and Letarte, and pit reporters Mike Massaro, Dave Burns, Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast, they gave fans a chance to hear drivers they wouldn’t normally otherwise hear from.

Throughout the weekend, the excitement for a return that was nine years in the making -- NBC last covered NASCAR in 2006 -- was palpable, but didn't come across to excess. The moment was celebrated, but stories were told, including some funny ones that brought a smile to my face.

Voda asked Harvick in the Countdown studio Sunday about what he was getting his 3-year-old son, Keelan, for his birthday. Harvick answered, but Harvick’s wife, DeLana, took to Twitter and called him out.

“Did you really think Keelan wouldn’t be watching?” the tweet said with hash tag “surprised ruined.”

Rutledge Wood had one of his best moments in the broadcast during the Sunday delay, a great feature on one of the original Daytona ticket takers, a woman who had the nickname “Lightning.” 

Due to the very late start -- around 9:45 p.m., Mountain time -- I had to leave my location (no cable at home) and listen to the Coke Zero 400 on the radio. After this weekend's start, I'll be looking forward to hearing Allen, Petty and the rest of the NBC team bring the rest of the NASCAR season to us,. though.

After all, anyone who takes the time to make a stop to say hello to folks in a small town in Utah is someone to remember.

Follow Tom Zulewski on Twitter @Tomzsports.

NEXT WEEK'S RACES

Kentucky Speedway (1.5-mile superspeedway), Sparta, Kentucky

SPRINT CUP: Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts, Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p,m. PT, NBC Sports Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or local PRN affiliate.

Race distance; 400.5 miles, 267 laps.

2014 champion: Brad Keselowski

XFINITY SERIES: XFINITY July Kentucky Race, Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT, NBC Sports Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or local PRN affiliate.

Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps.

2014 champion: Kevin Harvick

CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: UNOH 225, Thursday, 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT, Fox Sports 1. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or local MRN affiliate.

Race distance: 225 miles, 150 laps.

2014 champion: Kyle Busch