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After six weeks, TNT’s turn at the helm of the Cup Series broadcasts is over. And if you ask me, it couldn’t have come any sooner.

From missed stories, to commercial overkill, TNT’s races were lackluster at best.

Thanks to the wonders of technology (the DVR) and Speed’s Wednesday re-broadcast, TC and I usually catch every race broadcast. Though it’s not something we often write about here (if you’re looking to talk NASCAR TV check out The Daly Planet) I felt the need to express my disappointment with what I saw of TNT’s coverage.

After dumping Bill Weber in the middle of last season, TNT had a hole to fill at play-by-play. While Ralph Sheheen was given an audition at the end of last season, the network settled on MRN and Speed Channel vet Adam Alexander.

Now I think Adam is a great guy. He’s good on pit road, and really a genuinely nice person. Play-by-play however is not his forte. As ESPN learned with Jerry Punch, adeptness on pit road does not necessarily translate to skills at play-by-play.

Not helping Adam’s transition was the lack of communication between the booth and the control room (or trailer). How many times during their stretch did we hear the guys in the booth talking about a driver, wreck, or on-track action only to continue seeing something completely unrelated? This sort of thing is incredibly frustrating to watch (I found myself yelling at the TV) – yet it happened over and over and over.

Let’s not even get started on the commercial breaks either. SB Nation’s Jeff Gluck fully went through those in a post earlier this week.

So to recap, what TNT gave the fans was basically this: Commercials, commercials, commercials, a few laps of racing, commercials, commercials, commercials. Then the broadcast would come back on, play-by-play man Adam Alexander would say, “While we were away…” and TNT would show us the important moment we missed.

The man knows what he’s talking about – as does anyone who has watched these races.

Add all this on top of the missed stories (this shouldn’t surprise me though, TNT has a history of missed moments) – AJ Allmendinger v. Richard Petty comes to mind – and what we have are broadcasts that were nothing short of a disappointment.

Now I’m not saying the FOX and ESPN broadcasts are flawless. They most certainly are not (no live sports broadcast is). They are however better than TNT. If you can get past the cartoon characters, and the occasional over-the-top personalities Fox technically has a wonderful broadcast. This is thanks in large part to their Emmy award winning director Artie Kempner, and the best play-by-play guy in the business, Mike Joy. And if there is one thing the folks at ESPN know how to do, it’s how to broadcast a sporting event (though I’m not crazy about their golf coverage). I’d prefer Allen Bestwick at play-by-play too.

Is TNT unwatchable? I think that’s probably a little harsh, but they definitely have work to do to make their broadcasts better. As Jeff Gluck and John Daly have pointed out, hopefully NASCAR and their television partners begin to realize maybe it’s not the product, but the dissemination of the product that’s driving people away.

What do you think about the broadcasts? What are your likes and dislikes? Which section of the season is your favorite?

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Dan, if you’re reading this (which I doubt you are) we need you.

OK, maybe not Dan per se, I doubt he’s too interested in becoming a member of the NASCAR press corps (though if he is…), but this sport could really use someone like him.

You’re probably asking yourself at this point, “what the heck are you talking about?” For those of you who aren’t avid listeners of Dan, i’ll explain.

The former ESPN Sportscenter anchor and current host of his own sports talk radio show, writer for Sports Illustrated and co-host of Football Night in America is arguably one of the most prominent sportscasters in the game.

Daily on the Dan Patrick Show you’ll find a guy not afraid to ask tough questions to the biggest names in the business and certainly not afraid to press them when they dodge those questions (when he’s not playing Mike Wallace, he, Pauly, Fritzy, Seton and McLovin are pretty entertaining too).

Dan recently had BCS Executive Director Bill Hancock on and he asked him why there wasn’t a playoff system. When Hancock waltzed around the questions Dan pressed him. Eventually he got an answer out of him.

NBA commissioner David Stern was a guest not long ago and Dan asked him about Tim Donaghy. He was able to respectfully press Stern on what is a very controversial issue and got Stern to move, if only slightly, off script.

My point with this is, Dan Patrick is able to do what few can do: conduct a good, but difficult interview and emerge with mutual respect intact. He’s able and unafraid to ask tough questions without pissing off the person he’s interviewing.

Now I know what you’re saying, “Journo, why don’t you fill this role?” Well, I’ll be frank with you, I’m no Dan Patrick and as much as I’d like to be I don’t think I ever will. That doesn’t mean someone else can’t fill this role.

I think the NASCAR press is severely lacking someone who is unafraid (there are a lot of people that fit into this category) AND able (not so much here) to conduct difficult interviews with NASCAR’s power players. Too often the sport’s reporters tip-toe around things or don’t press things so as not to effect their existing relationships (who wants to get locked out?).

We need someone who is not afraid to call out NASCAR when there’s a problem and force the issue when necessary (David Poole was about as close as we had to this). I guess what we need is a reporter who is a celebrity in their right and has the clout when necessary (they need to be untouchable). As talented as many of the members of the press corps are, we just don’t have anyone that fills this role right now.

So Dan, if you’re interested we’d welcome you with open arms (or at least I would).