HBO's 24/7 Jimmie Johnson, episode 1
The 24/7 franchise moves over to auto racing. This series will do wonders for the sport of NASCAR, just as it has for boxing. This will expose a side of NASCAR that many people don't know exists. And that side -- away from the track -- is extremely interesting. Here's the first show:
Best Spoken Line, Jimmie Johnson: "The weak factor in it all really is the driver, he's the one who can fail before the car."
Best Spoken Line, Jimmie, part 2: "My entire life, I've wanted to be good at something. I finally am, and I don't want it to go away."
Best Spoken Line, Chad Knaus: "The crew chief can obviously be swept under the rug pretty quickly. The driver not quite so easy. The way that I live is basically to be fearful for my job."
Best Spoken Line, Chad, part 2: "You have a black and white rule book and if there's a space between those lines, that's where you work."
Best Spoken Line, Chad, part 3: "If you ask my guys, 90 percent would say I'm an a--hole."
Best Spoken Line, John Sitaras: "Jimmie doesn't train to race, Jimmie trains to win."
Best Written Line: Really, the entire opening sequence,. particularly, "But velocity with out a master, can't win a race."
Training Days: The workout by the pit crew, most of whom are former college athletes. The easiest place to pick up time in a race is pit lane. That's why they work so hard.
Scenic View: The engineering scenes with the car.
* Love the theme music. Glad they kept it for the NASCAR version.
* Interesting. He drives a stick to work. You'd think away from the track, drivers would just want to cruise in an automatic.
* The old fngers in the cup of water always works.
* The search for speed was an interesting segment. You get the sense that it's the crew chief's entire life -- finding a way to make the car go faster. And apparently the good ones don't mind bending the rules to make that happen.
* Congrats to Jimmie and Chandra, they are expecting.
The next episode is, Tuesday, Feb. 2. 10 p.m.
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