One-third of the Memorial Day Triple Crown of auto racing is being lopped from the general viewing menu (86ed as James Comey might read on a beach, spelled out in seashells) unless you are a member of Amazon Prime Video.
Once upon a time, I’d be upset. Now, not so much. Carry on without me. I still will watch the Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500, maybe not even the latter. More on this later.
This removal of today’s NASCAR race from the typical public airwaves is a return to the experience of my childhood.
Back in the 1960s and early 1970s, NASCAR coverage – even the big races like the Daytona 500, or this Memorial Day race that used to be known as the World 600 to upstage the Indianapolis 500 – were mostly snippets aired a week later on ABC’s Wide World of Sports. We’d see a few laps, a car or two wrecking, and the checkered flag waving.
Even the Indianapolis 500 was not readily available on live TV during my youth. There were years one could go to the War Memorial Arena, or a local movie theater and buy a ticket to watch a closed-circuit TV showing. Cheapskates such as me would listen on the radio, with announcers set up in each of the four corners, calling the race.
From 1971 through 1985, ABC would televise the race on a tape-delay basis, cutting it down to three hours of show that ran the night of the race in prime time. Interestingly, the announcers seemed particularly prescient in anticipating developments during the race. It turned out, they were recording their audio after the race had ended, helping them look like so many Nostradamus types.
Live, flag-to-flag TV coverage of Indy began in 1986 and continues to this day. For how much longer? Good question.
Early this morning, the Monaco Grand Prix will be televised live, kicking off what generally is considered the greatest single day in auto racing. Of late, Monaco has tended to be a follow-the-leader exercise due to narrow city streets and few passing opportunities. Two mandatory pit stops have been introduced this year in an attempt to stir the pot.
Still, it’s entertaining visually and I watch out of habit.
That one still is available without upcharge to people such as me, who already pay more than $150 a month for a satellite TV package and aren’t interested in spending $20, $15 or $10 more a month to watch a few events.
The Indy 500 also will be available without additional charge. I’ve gone to the Indianapolis 500 twice and it is quite the spectacle. This year, with all the cheating scandal around the Penske cars, and the prospect of an uninteresting race, I might opt to go for a spirited ride in my Corvette instead of watching.
My big surprise came as I was scanning the TV listings to confirm a channel for NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600. I found none.
I guess I should have been paying attention to those amateurish TV spots with Dale Earnhardt Jr., cackling like Kamala about NASCAR and Prime.
You need to be member of Amazon Prime to stream this race. This is sort of the final nail in the coffin for me.
My interest already has waned as NASCAR has gone WOKE, favorite driver Kyle Busch has found himself uncompetitive for reasons of a poor race team and his apparently declining skills, and the broadcasts have degenerated into attempts to hype close finishes that often seem managed by convenient caution flags.
Were the Coca-Cola 600 readily available for viewing tonight, I might have tuned in for a few laps here or there. Since it isn’t, no problem. There’s plenty of other channels, an abundance of computer offerings, and things to do in the real world.
It also might give me some time for quiet contemplation of what this holiday is supposed to be all about, honoring our military members, past and present. Certainly, my family can boast of many of those, who served in World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam.
That sounds like a plan; say some thanks for those who have served to protect us. Feel free to join me, if you don’t happen to be a member of Amazon Prime Video.
Sam Ross Jr's site 