HBO solid in first Double J episode
Bob Pockrass
Bob Pockrass began covering NASCAR in 1992, primarily covering short-track racing and events. He has worked for Street & Smith's Motorsports Group since 2003.
The first half-hour episode of “24/7 Jimmie Johnson” on Home Box Office had to be everything NASCAR wanted.
HBO showed Johnson sipping a beer, having trouble providing a sample for a drug test until drinking some water, helping his wife cook at home and working out to get prepared for the upcoming season.
So what if they showed a test at Little Rock, which wouldn’t be a test for Daytona but for Martinsville.
It also was evident that there wouldn’t be many close-up shots of Hendrick cars; instead most of the shots were panned or quick blips on the screen.
But that’s to be expected. The best thing about the show is it gave people the impression that Johnson is more than just a driver and that he works more than just every Sunday for four hours.
Maybe the narration was a little overdramatic for the first episode, but that’s probably done on purpose.
We’ll see if HBO can keep it up for three more episodes.
