Hendrick and McMurray upset that ABC left race for AFV - UPDATE: Statement from ABC

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Kyle Ocker, FanZone Sports — NASCAR

ABC, the exclusive TV network for the Chase for the Sprint Cup Series, seemed to make a statement about how important the 2008 Sprint Cup Series Championship playoffs were to them. After two red flags that totaled about 41 minutes, ABC left their coverage at 7:25PM on the Eastern Coast for none other than America’s Funniest Home Videos. The coverage switched over to ESPN2 to go to the finish.

This was the statement from ABC from Sunday night: “After two red flags, rain in Phoenix and 4 1/2 hours on ABC, we were still 34 minutes from the end of the telecast as it turned out. We told fans in the East and Central from the second red flag on that the race was moving to ESPN2. ABC’s entertainment viewers and NASCAR fans were both well served in a tough spot, and we are fortunate to have ESPN2 among our networks to serve the fans.”

The change affected many people. For one, the people that don’t have cable or satellite or don’t have access to ESPN2, and those who were away and had the race recording on their DVR.

Jamie McMurray was the first to get asked what his thoughts were during his post-race press conference.

“It seems a little odd to me as big as NASCAR is and as many people as watch the sport, I can’t imagine being a race fan and being on the East Coast and trying to watch this and then going to that,” McMurray said. “I mean, maybe if the President was going to talk, maybe if something big had happened, but I can’t believe that America’s Funniest Home Videos would take priority over us. I mean, I like that show, but I’d rather watch the race.”

It left Rick Hendrick was upset as well when asked what it said about the championship playoffs.

“It doesn’t say very much, I am disappointed.”

ABC leaving also affected DirecTv’s Hotpass network channel, as they were unable to switch back to the ESPN2 feed of the race.

ABC’s ratings have been on the downhill slide for the last few weeks. The network reported ratings last weekend at Texas the compared with the Texas race in 2007. The network has been heavily criticized for their race coverage, or as some fans would say “lack of” race coverage and respect for the sport.