- Pit Bull (TV series)
"Pit Bull" is a
debate show that aired live every Saturday onSPEED Channel during the 2004NASCAR season. The show took place outside of every venue of the NASCARNextel Cup Series .Steve Byrnes moderated debates involving a 4-person panel ofsportswriter s whose columns are mostly about racing. The 3 primary panelists wereMike Mulhern of the "Winston-Salem Journal ", David Poole of "The Charlotte Observer ", andMarty Smith ofnascar.com . The fourth panelist usually rotated between writers likeBen Blake ,Lee Spencer of "The Sporting News ", and SPEED Channelwebsite writer Robin Miller. The panelists eventually became known as the "Pit Hogs."Each week, the panel debated hot topics from the NASCAR world. At the end of the show, the four panelists got time to state their "beef" with an issue in NASCAR. It could've been a topic not yet touched on, a past issue, or a current issue. A live
audience watched the show up-close each week. Eachepisode was a half-hour long.The show drew ire from NASCAR officials and drivers for its panelists' consistently questioning a NASCAR ruling or such. Then, one night, on another SPEED program, "
NASCAR Inside Nextel Cup ", NASCAR driverJimmy Spencer , a panelist on that night's episode, slammed "Pit Bull" as being "anti-NASCAR." Many "Pit Bull" fans jokingly claimed that since they agreed with most of what was being questioned of NASCAR by the panel (and most of the time, it was Mulhern and Blake doing the questioning) that they were "anti-NASCAR," even though they were NASCAR fans."Pit Bull" debuted in February 2004, but on
November 23 , 2004, it was announced by SPEED that low ratings would keep the show from returning in 2005. [ [http://www.thatsracin.com/mld/thatsracin/10254833.htm That's Racin' | Homepage ] ] Many "Pit Bull" viewers got upset, though, accusing NASCAR of having a say in the show's cancellation because of its ability to question them. However another debate show debuted in 2006, this time NASCAR-related and was namedTradin' Paint but was similar though it had NASCAR drivers likeKyle Petty as panelists debating NASCAR issues in a similar fashion.References
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