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Masters overshadows NASCAR this weekend

Jeff Gordon or Tiger Woods?

Sterling Marlin or Phil Mickelson?

NASCAR or the Masters?

The choice for Fox was apparently Woods and Co., as this week's NASCAR race, the Virginia 500, is among the four that the network will televise on its FX cable channel.

Fox's contract with NASCAR calls for 17 Winston Cup broadcasts through July 6 (after which NBC and TNT take over), 13 to be shown on Fox and the other four on FX. Naturally, the four going to FX, which doesn't draw nearly the numbers of Fox, must be strategically placed (read: away from guaranteed ratings winners like the Masters).

Why feed a perfectly fine NASCAR broadcast to the jaws of CBS and golf's most popular event? Other NASCAR races that will be televised by FX are the Pontiac Excitement 400 in Richmond on May 4, the Winston on May 18 (both night races) and the MBNA Platinum 400 in Dover on June 2, possibly the first day of the NBA Finals.

Instead of NASCAR, Fox will try something different Sunday: televising a CART race for the first time. Coverage of the 23rd annual Grand Prix of Long Beach will be produced and worked by the Fox Cable Networks-owned Speed Channel crew (Derek Daly, Bob Vasha and Tommy Kendall) beginning at 3:30 p.m.

Former CART driver and rookie broadcaster Scott Pruett will be a pit reporter. He said more coverage of the CART circuit on network television is long overdue.

"As a driver on the CART circuit for more than a decade, it was a travesty to see the lack of coverage the sport got on network television," Pruett said. "They gave us what I call "just enough' coverage. You turned on the TV, you saw the race and a couple of vignettes, they waved the checkered flag and it was over."

CBS will cover six CART races live this season, and Speed Channel will handle all but one of the remaining races. CART plans to race in St. Petersburg in February.

THE ENVELOPE PLEASE: The nominees for the 23rd annual Sports Emmy Awards were announced last week, and ESPN edged Fox 25-24 in nominations, followed by CBS and HBO (14 each), NBC (9) and ABC (8).

Fox got five nominations for its NASCAR coverage, tying HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel as the most for one program/series.

One of ESPN's nominations was in Outstanding Writing (a new category) and went to its Monday Night Countdown show for a piece titled Distant Replay: The Ballad of Bruce the Buccaneer.

The winners will be announced April 23. Check out the complete list of nominees at www.emmyonline.org.

GIMME THE 1-2-3: If you're still undecided on a Kentucky Derby favorite, and who isn't, check out Saturday's NTRA's Road to the Kentucky Derby from 4:30-6 p.m. on Channel 8. The show will feature live coverage of the Grade I $750,000 Blue Grass Stakes from Keeneland, Ky., and host Tom Hammond, analysts Mike Battaglia and Bob Neumeier (from New York) and commentator Charlsie Cantey will focus on the 20 horses they think most likely will go to post in the May 4 race.

TIDBITS: The Lightning and Storm have reached an agreement with Clear Channel Communications on a three-year radio contract, making WDAE the flagship station of both teams. But more importantly, the agreement includes a no-preemption clause, meaning not even the Jim Rome Show or Devil Rays baseball, were the latter to move from WFLA-AM 970 to sister station WDAE, can keep the Lightning or Storm from being broadcast at its scheduled time. ... Former Bucs punter and current WDAE-AM 620 radio host Mark Royals will have analyst duties Saturday as Fox Sports Net Florida covers the NFL Europe opener between Berlin and Frankfurt. ... Rays GM Chuck LaMar will be the guest on Steve Duemig's show every Friday from 4-5 p.m. on WDAE. Lamar will discuss his team and take calls. ... The Sunshine Network will televise a tape of Florida's Orange and Blue spring football game at 10 a.m. Sunday.

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