Kudos to JENNA FRYER at NHIS

So let me get this straight. They want to ban Jenna Fryer from Cup races for asking a tongue-in-cheek question, but they have no qualms about letting that lady from Sirius in there, who makes a career of asking some of the most off-the-wall, useless and ridiculous questions you will ever hear. Ahhh, you gotta love the PR folk.

 

You're not talking about Claire B. are you?

 

Don't know. I didn't say that.

 

I guess the no disrespect to Jenna lead in threw me off.

 

The only time I've ever threatened to be sued was by a racing PR flak ... and IRL PR flak ... during the IRL's sub-amateur late 90s era ... representing perhaps the worst driver to ever regularly appear in any racing series.

 

No joke. NASCAR wants to brag to everyone about how accessible the drivers and other types are to everyone who will listen to them, and some tool is a big enough turd to threaten Jenna?

Screw NASCAR. Hard. But am I surprised? No. Typical NASCAR crap ... nothing like a little veiled threat to let them know they didn't appreciate something. Pretty rank and file with those pieces of crap.

So they don't allow Jenna. Then someone else gets thrown into the Lion's Den. The stories aren't informative. NASCAR will claims it's misrepresented. Readers, particularly those in the South who deem NASCAR absolutely infallible at all times with all issues, get pissed off.

Make up your mind, NASCAR. Going to do what you do best and change the rules midstream ... again? [/rant]

 

When did Tony Stewart drive IRL again . . .

 

I covered NASCAR races in the late 90s and early part of this decade when I was starting out. Access was pretty good. Most interviews with drivers I did were informal one-on-ones.

After covering it last in '01, I took another job and did not get a chance to do another Cup race until '06. I was shocked at how much it had changed.

Access was as bad as I've seen it in any professional sport or racing series, and I've covered all of the biggies. PR flaks ran rampant, and unlike other series, really made no effort to develop a working relationship with the press (I'm sure there are those that do, though).

Sponsorship obligations, which were coming to a head even when I was started out, had become ludicrous ... winning drivers weren't showing up after races until about an hour after it was over due to the hat dance photos, etc.

I can honestly say that F1, which has the reputation of being media-unfriendly, was easier to handle than NASCAR. I never failed to get an interview I sought when I covered the USGP and the drivers are off the podium and facing the press within ten minutes of the podium ceremony. If you're organized, you can get just about anyone.

As for Jenna Fryer, she is among a handful of AP writers I make a point to read if I see the byline. She does a great job.

 

Hiro Matsushita raced in the IRL?

 

Greg Ray or Dr. Jack Miller?

I was listening to the post-race press conference on the radio while waiting for traffic to get me to Foxborough -- the New Hampshire radio station was airing the post-race -- and I vaguely heard the question as the static faded in and out. In fact, I think I heard a bunch of laughter after that comment, as RSC suggests. And I think I heard a related quip from Bowyer in the folo question, too.

In other words, the flack was being an asshat. Not a surprise, but not called for.

 

Good for Jenna for asking the smart ass question. Sometimes it's those types of questions that help you gain more respect from athletes and it helps break the ice.

On a somewhat unrelated note, is it good that when I hear Jenna Fryer, I sometimes get her confused with Jenna Fischer from The Office. I guess that's what I get for watching so much of The Office and reading AP NASCAR stories. Both are Jenna F's and seem like cool gals.

 

The funniest night in the history of SportsJournalists.com was the night where we had the "Welcome, Jenna Fryer!", "Welcome, David Poole!" and "Welcome, Chris Economaki!" threads all up simultaneously.