TNT suspends NASCAR announcer Bill Weber-UPDATE 2
54 Comments Published July 1st, 2009 in NASCAR News
UPDATE 2: Bill Weber will not be part of TNT’s NASCAR coverage of the Cup Series for the network’s last two races. Ralph Sheheen will handle play-by-play duties for The Coke Zero 400 in Daytona and the LifeLock.com 400 from Chicagoland. Sheheen will be calling the races alongside analysts Kyle Petty and Wally Dallenbach in the booth.
[TNT]
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UPDATE: We’re hearing that Weber will not be in the booth for Daytona this weekend and Chicago the week after. TNT has only the two races left in its broadcast commitment.
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TNT suspended play-by-play announcer Bill Weber for Sunday’s Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
The Charlotte Observer reports witnesses saw Weber get into a confrontation over the weekend at his hotel in Manchester, N.H.
Turner Broadcasting confirmed in a statement that Weber would not participate in Sunday’s broadcast and Ralph Sheheen would fill in.
“Bill Weber will not be part of TNT’s NASCAR coverage of the Cup Series from New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend,” said Sal Petruzzi, senior vice president of public relations for Turner. “As this is a private issue, it’s the policy of the company not to discuss personal matters involving our employees.”
Screw Weber he sucks, today was the best TNT broadcast possibly ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I miss ol’ what’s his name..Bob Jenkins..I always liked him back in the day when NASCAR was on ABC/ESPN all the time
timmy i couldnt agree with you more thats when nascar started loseing fans they were only interested in the big dollar tv money,they are so greedy Bill France sr is rolling in the g***e sorry but true thats why they make the fences higher ,not to keep the cars on the track,its to keep people out that wont pay to see this crap and sorry rowdy bushes you both suck
[quote comment="53798"]Screw Weber he sucks, today was the best TNT broadcast possibly ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!![/quote]
I agree,and timmy I loved bob jenkins and miss benny too.
I wish Wally would assault someone and get suspended. He’s TERRIBLE.
I LIKE THE FOX ANNOUNCERS BETTER THAN ANY OF THEM!
[quote comment="53805"]I LIKE THE FOX ANNOUNCERS BETTER THAN ANY OF THEM![/quote]
The Fox announcers all need to pull a Michael Jackson and Beat It……. (what too soon?) They are the worst group of announcers out of every sport in the world, with the exception of Mike Joy, he is the only good one they have.
Today was better. I really like Kyle Petty and Wally is okay but the chemistry Benny had is hard to replace. I say keep the fellow they had today and don’t bring Weber back! Kyle, Wally and Ray had better chemistry.
The guy they had today is Ralph Sheheen, he’s usually one of their pit-road reporters. He’s been doing motorsports coverage since 1988, he does a lot of stuff on the SPEED channel.
This brought me back to when i first started watching nascar in 04. I know im a lil new school when it comes to nascar but today seemed special. Great race all around. i loved the blimp shots that was sweet. havent had much of that the past 3 or so years. And the chemistry between Ralph, Wally, and Kyle was off the charts. When Weber was in the both it seemed to me at least that he didnt like Kyle in the both. I rememeber the first race from Pocono this year Weber was like this is going to be a long 8 races after kyle said something. So good I think ralph was a breath of fresh air if you ask me. Today was just wow in my mind. Hell tnt can broadcast all the races in my book after todays race coverage!!!!!!!! oh yes and to see how this was almost a sell out was great! Double file restarts kick a$$
that sucks for bill weber, maybe he will learn not to be dumb
[quote comment="53809"][quote comment="53805"]I LIKE THE FOX ANNOUNCERS BETTER THAN ANY OF THEM![/quote]
The Fox announcers all need to pull a Michael Jackson and Beat It……. (what too soon?) They are the worst group of announcers out of every sport in the world, with the exception of Mike Joy, he is the only good one they have.[/quote]
That is a very sick thing to say Fisha695!What happened to MJ was too sad and just terrible and to say that the Fox announcers need to do that is just sick and twisted.You need some help….seriously
As for Bill Weber,I hope he comes back…I liked him…and I like the Fox announcers too
BOOGITY BOOGITY BOOGITY,LETS GO RACIN BOYS!!!!
This weeks broadcast was a blast, I could listen to Kyle all day.
I thought the banter between Kyle and Wally was a hoot.
TNT has my vote for the second half of the year.
To bad it’s so short.
When things are so crappy all over listening to the antics of that crew was uplifting and made the race fun and exciting.
KYLE WALLY and RAY were an act all their own.
[quote comment="53825"]KYLE WALLY and RAY were an act all their own.[/quote]
You are the second person in this thread that said Ray, there was no Ray, it was Ralph Sheheen.
I thought the coverage sucked! I don’t like any of the announcers they had this weekend.
Sorry copied the wrong post.
In any case they were fun to listen to.
Laughter in the booth was fun, and made it much more interesting. Their excitement was contagious.
I hate watching races on TNT because of all the commercials. They suck at showing races. I wish Fox would carry all the races. Every time you turn around it’s another commercial!!!!!
I thought Ralph Sheheen did a wonderful job filling in for Bill Weber. Then again, I’m not a fan of Weber’s play-by-play style and much prefer the smooth-talking Mike Joy and former NBC/TNT commentator Allen Bestwick. Sheheen provided (for the most part) flawless commentary while keeping the broadcast booth loose and comfortable. I thought Petty and Dallenbach had one of their better broadcasts this season, perhaps the result of Sheheen’s easy-going and lighthearted personality (at least on-air).
Unfortunately, Weber is a big name and, after reading a related article, should be back in the booth by next week.
Though I love NASCAR on FOX’s coverage the best, Sheheen/Petty/Dallenbach provided a great performance.
I just have one thing to say. “Kyle Petty….PLEASE clear your throat!”
Bill Webber is an ok announcer but, the best is Darrell Waltrip and TNT should look into getting him. Really, as long as I get to watch the race, I could care less who announces it….
Cheryl, stop hating on Kyle, we need ppl like him announcing so that he can explain alot of the tech stuff to those new followers. Kyle is a good man and also does alot for children in need. Pick on someone who doesn’t have a heart.
[quote comment="53809"][quote comment="53805"]I LIKE THE FOX ANNOUNCERS BETTER THAN ANY OF THEM![/quote]
The Fox announcers all need to pull a Michael Jackson and Beat It……. (what too soon?) They are the worst group of announcers out of every sport in the world, with the exception of Mike Joy, he is the only good one they have.[/quote]
WRONG, all of them are good, Darryl Waltrip ROCKS, Boogity, Boogity, Boogity, Lets Go Racing Boys!!!
[quote comment="53822"][quote comment="53809"][quote comment="53805"]I LIKE THE FOX ANNOUNCERS BETTER THAN ANY OF THEM![/quote]
The Fox announcers all need to pull a Michael Jackson and Beat It……. (what too soon?) They are the worst group of announcers out of every sport in the world, with the exception of Mike Joy, he is the only good one they have.[/quote]
That is a very sick thing to say Fisha695!What happened to MJ was too sad and just terrible and to say that the Fox announcers need to do that is just sick and twisted.You need some help….seriously
As for Bill Weber,I hope he comes back…I liked him…and I like the Fox announcers too
BOOGITY BOOGITY BOOGITY,LETS GO RACIN BOYS!!!![/quote]
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Well what do you expect Charley when you have NO brains like fisha695, he’s the one who knows it all out here or thinks he does.
Benny, Bestwick and Jenkins were the best. Weber is a doofus.
TNT has the best in TV, but I turn down the TV and turn up the Sirius satellite broadcast, Ned,Benny, and Bob ruled!
Thought this was a great broadcast. Didn’t miss Weber at all. Thought Ralph was a good complement to Wally and Kyle.
Announce Team Best Ever : Mike Joy ,Ken Squire , Ned Jarret
I was doing production work for World Sports Anybody remember them ? Ralph’s First TV broadcast Modified Race Thompson Conn, What sticks out in my mind was he did not know which part of a car was which. I thought it was pretty funny for a CALIFORNIA BOY!!!! Give him time 20 + years and he will get it right. Kyle and Wally had a pretty good STICGH going on.
dude you guys give the old men way to much attention??????????? Ned Jarret come on wtf????? I watched an old espn classic daytona 500 and couldnt sit through 5 minutes of Ned. its like nascar from 1833 serious Ned Jarret are u fn kidding me????????????? honestly my all time pick for the both would be Bestwick, DW, Wally D, and im sorry i need a female in the mix to mix it up and that would be Jamie Little shes off the charts awsome and hot in my book! Pit would have to be Ralph, and the tnt girl who works the pits right now shes awsome just glad this double file restarts was thrown in so soon I aboslutley love it fckn rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! great racing
tnt sucks they don,t even talk with the winner or second place finisher.
Ralph loves racing. The sport and the spirit! It is good to see someone who actually works good at something get acknowledged for it. He brings the excitement he has for the sport to the table and has a talent to parlay that to the viewers.
So what we ended up with on Sunday, in a nutshell, was this:
3 very experienced and knowledgeable broadcasters who care about the sport. What is NOT to like here. It’s been a long time coming!
Paul
Darrell Waltrip sucks has a broadcaster………in fact its boring has heck to watch nascar races on fox cuz all they talk about is the front runners every single lap with TNT they talk about every1 even ppl like david gilland who leads 1 lap then parks the car.lol but anyway Ralph did ok with wally & kyle. I wish all the races were on TNT.
What exactly happened at the hotel anyway??
What did Webber have a few too many and just loose it or something??
Maybe someone diddent like his announcing and told him about it or told him that he acts a little too gay for nascar ha ha!
Amen to Paul!!!!!
l0l at the TV ratings for the race. They get a real announce team, and the race ends up being the only race so far of this year that had ratings go up compared to the previous year.
Thank god someone actually recognizes that TNT shows far too many commercials and far too little racing. Thank you, to the person that invented the DVR. If it wasn’t for that I would go to NASCAR.com to see who wins. I can’t stand the TNT coverage. I don’t care who is calling the races for them, although Bill Weber being gone was nice. Take Wally with him. They need to cut back on the commercials. We don’t need commercials every 4 minutes or if it is a bigger track like Chicago every 10 laps. If you are a person that watches races just for the wrecks you miss those as well on TNT. At least this weekend’s race will be pretty much commercial free. Just remember though coming up in Indy on ESPN we get Rusty no talent Wallace, at least I’ll be at the race.
You know. All u people that have left negative reply , I would love to see any you they to do what these people do for us the fan
Every weekend. Doesn’t matter if ur a commentator or a person that runs the camera on the back stretch. Most of you would piss ur pants
At just the thought of being on tv in front of millions of people. Good or not I give each and everyone of those commentators. My respect because
They do a job that so few can do. So quit your b$tching. Non of u know what its like to any one of the jobs.
I still think that listening to Kyle and Wally two former drivers, and Kyle who has been around NASCAR since it began was great. Ralph added to the mix and what you got was fun in the booth.
Yeah too may commercials but then they are trying to complete with two BIG broadcast channels.
You do what you have to in order to make it work.
I loved it. The economy strikes again.
I don’t like the crew coming up the second half of the year, not exciting enough. Love Rusty, on the track, not so much in the booth. (with apologies to my Sister-in-law who was the biggest Rusty fan.) Sorry Kathy!!
Just my 2 cents, but would love to see Jerry Punch, Bob Jenkins and Ned Jarrett call the races. Benny Parsons was my all-time favorite.
I got my degree in broadcasting. Wasn’t enough money in the midwest went to another career. I’m not saying I would be better than who is there because I don’t know enough about the sport. I do know what kind of preperation goes into a broadcast of any kind and racing can’t be easy. I can guarantee you that I don’t have the chops to do what they do. I do however have the knowledge to be critical of what they do and in my opinion(which is what we are all expressing) Bill Weber and Rusty Wallace are dry. There is no entertainment value to what they do. When I watch I want to be entertained as well. Wally and Kyle together provided that and with Ralph in the booth he knew exactly what to do to get them to say what they need. I am a person who loves Larry Mac because of his knowledge and the way he delivers it. NASCAR is from the south. I want to hear a guy with a southern accent describing the race and some of the technical stuff about it. Bring back Ned Jarrett and Buddy Baker. They were great in the old days.
maybe tnt will see fit to bring alan bestwick to do races on tnt. alan was always better than bill webber
Looks like the team in the booth for Daytona will be the same as last week.
Cool.
But I wonder what the hullabaloo with Weber was all about?
he was caught smoking pot! LOL jk
Not sure what Weber did, but didn’t mind not hearing him on Sunday. He always sounds so rehearsed, not very natural. As for the person who commented that none of us could be in broadcasting, maybe so, but I doubt the broadcasters could do some of the jobs we do either. I think it is important to be the best at what you do, whatever it is, and Weber was definitely my least favorite. My picks today would be Mike Joy, Alan Bestwick, Kyle Petty, DW, and Larry Mac. Benny Parsons was great, RIP.
Let that clown Michael Jackson call the race……….I usually mute the race anyway.
You have to be kidding. Kyle, Waaally and Ralph talk way tooo much. We don’t need to listen to the Rachet Jaw Boys.
The Fox announcers are the best.
everybody do a line of meth. i dont like any of you.
get a life, you bunch of country bumpkins
I wish paul page and eli gold could do the races.
Another good job in the booth. Why can’t TNT do the wide open at every race. It is great coverage. If only ESPN did their side by side on indy cars the same way and used the side by side on NASCAR.
i think its messed up. they fire weber for getting pissed, but they keep charles barkley for a dui and picking up whores?
I like Webber he is a serious broadcaster but the put down stuff gets old. It goes back to the radio (during commercials) Bestwick was the master. My ideal broadcast would be Mike Joy (he is without ego and patiently does his job and lets everyone else shine), Kyle Petty (informative and entertaining) and IF there must be a third person in the booth (sometimes the chatter is too much) rehire Buddy Baker he too didn’t trip over his ego. Mostly, I wish all of the announcer’s realized that people tuned in for the RACE not to listen to would be, could be and used to be’s.
In my own opinion I miss when it was on Fox the first half and NBC/TNT on the second half. It was BP, Wally, and Webber. ESPN SUX!!!! I love the boys at Fox so lets hope ESPN goes away!!
The best announcers on FOX are LARRY MCRENOLDS & DICK BERRGEN the
other announcers are on FOX are absolutey annoying & pro H. M . S . it ‘ s an absolute fact . DARRELL WALTRIP ‘ s quote ” BOOGITY BOOGITY BOOGITY BOYS LET ‘ S GO RACING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ”
is absolutely annoying & a pain in the rear !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! .There are a couple
problems with D.W. is he calls DALE Jr .” JUNE BUG ” he acts like DALE Jr. is a
god or something special !!!!!!!!!!!! . The (2nd ) problem I have with D . W.
is when his brother MICHEAL was driving MICHEAL would be a lot of laps down
& D.W. would still mention his name . The ( 3rd ) problem I have with D . W .
is the way he babies H . M . S . .I wish NED ” GENTLEMEN NED ” JARRETT ,
Dr. JERRY PUNCH were still broadcasting instead of DARRELL WALTRIP ,
MIKE JOY , JEFF HAMMOND & CHRIS MEYERS . There is ( 1 ) other announcer
I ‘ ld wish they could get but I know it ‘ s impossible to get & that announcer
is BENNY PARSONS & keep LARRY MCRENOLDS & DICK BERRGEN when will FOX
get rid of those stupid gimmicks such as : ” CRANK IT UP ” , ” DIGGER ” ,
” THE HOLLYWOOD HOTEL ” , & ” THE PRE RACE SHOW ” ??? !!!! . I can ‘ t
believe that FOX insists they need all those stupid gimmicks to televise a
NASCAR RACE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! . At least the A. B . C . / E . S. P . N .
network & the T . N . T . network doesn ‘ t have those stupid gimmicks like
the FOX network does !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! .
The ADS on T. V . , in NASCAR ILLUSTRATED & other magazines that cover
NASCAR always have ( 2 ) ADS or more with DALE Jr . & it ‘s really annoying
there are more drivers once in a while they will have other drivers in ADS .
The only reason why DALE Jr . is popular is because of his last name & that ‘ s
a major fact & the media knows it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! .
[quote comment="59057"]The best announcers on FOX are LARRY MCRENOLDS & DICK BERRGEN the
other announcers are on FOX are absolutey annoying & pro H. M . S . it ‘ s an absolute fact . DARRELL WALTRIP ‘ s quote ” BOOGITY BOOGITY BOOGITY BOYS LET ‘ S GO RACING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ”
is absolutely annoying & a pain in the rear !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! .There are a couple
problems with D.W. is he calls DALE Jr .” JUNE BUG ” he acts like DALE Jr. is a
god or something special !!!!!!!!!!!! . The (2nd ) problem I have with D . W.
is when his brother MICHEAL was driving MICHEAL would be a lot of laps down
& D.W. would still mention his name . The ( 3rd ) problem I have with D . W .
is the way he babies H . M . S . .I wish NED ” GENTLEMEN NED ” JARRETT ,
Dr. JERRY PUNCH were still broadcasting instead of DARRELL WALTRIP ,
MIKE JOY , JEFF HAMMOND & CHRIS MEYERS . There is ( 1 ) other announcer
I ‘ ld wish they could get but I know it ‘ s impossible to get & that announcer
is BENNY PARSONS & keep LARRY MCRENOLDS & DICK BERRGEN when will FOX
get rid of those stupid gimmicks such as : ” CRANK IT UP ” , ” DIGGER ” ,
” THE HOLLYWOOD HOTEL ” , & ” THE PRE RACE SHOW ” ??? !!!! . I can ‘ t
believe that FOX insists they need all those stupid gimmicks to televise a
NASCAR RACE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! . At least the A. B . C . / E . S. P . N .
network & the T . N . T . network doesn ‘ t have those stupid gimmicks like
the FOX network does !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! .
The ADS on T. V . , in NASCAR ILLUSTRATED & other magazines that cover
NASCAR always have ( 2 ) ADS or more with DALE Jr . & it ‘s really annoying
there are more drivers once in a while they will have other drivers in ADS .
The only reason why DALE Jr . is popular is because of his last name & that ‘ s
a major fact & the media knows it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! .[/quote]
The “Major fact” that Dale Jr. is the most popular driver is because more people like him than anyother driver, The simple fact ,Dan Jonas,is that your whole post is opinion not “fact”. I don’t disagree with all your opinions but call a rose a rose.THE reason FOX has gimmicks is because someone out there buys that crap and they make money…it’s all about money!
D.W. is the worst, maybe he could be a gas boy.
The stupid gimmicks, I agree need to do away on FOX, especially the Boogity thing, (we mute the TV on every start, thanks DW) and how about the cartoon “Digger” if I wanted to watch cartoons I would get up and watch on saturday morning like the rest of the children. I tuned in to watch Nascar and only ESPN and ABC do a great job at it, Maybe CBS should be given Fox’s time slot.
and what is with the differance between the lip movement and the sound on TNT, the have about a 1 second delay from sound to picture.
OK done gripping, just glad to know that DW rubs other people the wrong way.
FOX DUMP THE STUPIDITY & D.W.