NASCAR At The Shore: RPM2Night Interview

ESPN's involvement in NASCAR coverage has changed over the years, but many fans will remember RPM2Night. The program aired on ESPN2 from 1995-2003. It had several hosts, but it's most notable host was John Kernan.

John Kernan has been a reporter for WDBJ in Roanoke,  Va. In 1990, he began working as a pit reporter for the ESPN's NASCAR coverage. In 1996, he began hosting the networks nightly NASCAR news program, RPM2Night. He's an expert of multiple forms of auto racing including NHRA, NASCAR, and Indycar Racing. He currently works as an anchor/reporter for ESPN 1000 Radio in Chicago.

Kernan recently launched RPM2Night.com. The site covers the ongoing of three motorsports: NASCAR, NHRA, and Indycar.

Patch exchanged an email discussion with Kernan about the site and the NASCAR community:

Q: One of the first things I think that our visitors would be curious about is your career. You've done a lot, but you are most known for RPM2Night, I'd say. What was that whole experience like? What was it like to work at ESPN?   

I've done work for ESPN since 1986 and have loved it! After Alan Bestwick and Dave Despain turned down the rpm hosting job, they offered it to me and since I had a lot of studio experience I figured it'd be fun. The staff that worked on that show was one of the best. All were racing fans of some sort. It wasn't like having a job, it was fun to talk racing five days a week.  

Q: You loved the RPM2Night idea so much that you wanted to bring it back through your new website. How did that come to be? How are you making it work? Why did you think the Internet needed this site, even though there are many auto racing related websites already.  

Every year since the show was cancelled I always checked to see if the rpm2night.com domain was available. It wasn't until earlier this year. So I jumped on it and decided on the spur of the moment to do a website, even though I had no experience at it. I designed the original site myself with the help of an html editing program that I found for free on the Internet. The work caught the attention of a racing fan who designs websites professionally and he did the current design for nothing! It's good that he did because I basically have nothing!  

I never thought about it as competing with all the other websites. But, the one thing I noticed was the other "independent" sites covered just one form of motorsports. I wanted to build a site that covers it all. Right now it's basically NHRA, IndyCar and NASCAR, and if I can ever figure out a way to make some money on it, then I'll hire people to help.

Right now Stan Creekmore and Chris Willson are contributing pro bono as is Dave Rieff on occassion.

Q: You've dealt with a lot of NASCAR drivers, fans, and executives. Who are some of the nicest ones to work with? Who are some of the worst?  

Jeff Gordon is one of the nicest guys to deal with.  In fact, I never had a problem with any of the drivers, NASCAR, IndyCar or NHRA. They've always treated me the same way I treat them, with respect.  

I've  heard stories from other reporters who didn't like dealing with Bill Elliott, but he and I got along great!  I remember when he won Daytona in 1987, after he did the cbs interview he came straight over to me (I was covering it for WDBJ-TV in Roanoke, VA) and punched me in thestomach and said, "Can you believe that?"

Q: Let's look at this NASCAR season a little bit. You've been around the sport for a while. NASCAR made several changes in the off-season. From your perspective, are they working?

The changing of the point system was a pretty big deal mathematically, but does it really change things? Personally, I don't think anyone will notice the points system until they get toward the chase, then some will make a big deal of it. When i was doing rpm2night the TV show, we ran all kinds of points possiblities, including one that was very similar to the new one and guess what? It didn't change who had won the title. 

I feel for the NASCAR officials because they have a lot more competition these days than they did even 10 years ago. Unfortunately for us purists, they have to try new things.  Like the NHRA with its countdown and the 4-wide at charlotte and look at all the gimmicks IndyCar is throwing out this year. It's a sign of the times. There is so much more to do and watch that they have to make drastic changes to remain relevant and interesting.    

Q: I know that I thought making drivers declare their allegiance to either Sprint Cup or Nationwide Series points would be huge. However, the Sprint Cup guys are still winning there. The only difference is that they're not getting points. What are your thoughts on these guys racing there?

NASCAR would excuse it as they must be there because it's the only way the series can have fans. A lot of people would beg to differ. I know I'd watch it regardless, but I guess I am an exception?  

Personally, I don't care if cup drivers want to run in the lesser divisions and kick butt, it just reminds me of the time Buddy Baker went and ran a Saturday night short track race and came back the next week and told David Pearson about it. He told Pearson that he won and Pearson  looked at him and said, "of course you did, you were suppposed to."   

NASCAR brought this problem on themselves by making the nns schedule basically the same as cup and also by for all intents and purposes, eliminating testing. Team owners also had a hand in creating this monster by hiring kids with no experience to drive cup cars. They had to get their seat time somewhere and now with the cost of running a competitive nns team sky rocketing, the owners can't get big money from sponsors if they run some no-name kid. So, they have to bring in their cups guys.

Q: We've seen a lot of surprises this year. What has surprised you most in the Sprint Cup Series? Whose performance has been disappointing?

Trevor Bayne sursprised me the most by winning the Daytona 500. I really thought Kurt Busch had that baby wrapped up. As far as disappoining, Tony Stewart. Not sure if he's just fat and happy now, or if there are some problems within that team.  I wish him luck in getting back to victory lane.

Q: What can we expect this weekend at 'Dega? What story lines are you watching? What action can we expect? 

Two-car drafts, same as Daytona, only it's an easier track to drive, so we could see a big pack of 2-wide deals. I'm working the NHRA event for ESPN this weekend in Charlotte, so Stan Creekmore is covering Talladega for rpm2night.com.

Q: And lastly, whose your prediction to win this weekend, and to win the championship?  

This weekend: Kurt Busch to win. The championship: Jimmie Johnson. Until somebody proves they can beat him in the chase, he will always be the favorite. I don't care if he starts it tenth in points or as one of the wild card drivers.

On Monday, I'll be chatting with ESPN's NASCAR Now host: Mike Massaro. If you have any questions, send them my way!

Otherwise look for that interview over the Easter weekend. Enjoy the racing at 'Dega on Sunday! It's sure to be exciting!