TWIN Canceled?

So there's this new show called Inside NASCAR that's going to be airing on Showtime (!!) this year. We will have the pleasure of seeing Chris Myers host a panel including Kyle Petty, Randy Pemberton, and Brad Daugherty as they break down the week's events into nice, neat news items. Snoooorrrre. Who's great idea was this? There's a reason I stopped watching NASCAR Now, and that's on a FREE channel! Do you honestly think I'm going to pay EXTRA to watch a bunch of "experts" let out some hot air?

Usually, I wouldn't waste time talking or writing about this when I have the simple option of ignoring the show, but the creation of this show seems to have come at the expense of one of my favorite shows on SPEED: This Week in NASCAR. That show was different from all the rest, thanks to Michael Waltrip's shenanigans with Steve Byrnes. Now, obviously I'm a little biased, but I think they really hit on a good combination when they added Chad Knaus to the lineup. He and Waltrip were a great double act - Chad was the perfect Abbott to Mikey's Costello. Plus, it was a perfect mix of REAL insight into NASCAR (courtesy of Chad) and laugh-out-loud entertainment (thanks to both Mikey and Chad...I still love Chad's exasperated reaction when they're arguing about why the numbers on the roof face the infield). No stuffy talking heads sitting around a desk giving their "expert" opinion. Why mess with a good thing? I'm sure going to miss those two, if this whole thing is true.

Now, it's not completely official that TWIN has been canceled, but The Daly Planet, which covers NASCAR in the media, noticed that recent press information about Michael Waltrip included the following:

"In addition to his role as co-owner, Waltrip has been a popular television personality on SPEED since 1996. He's an analyst for its NASCAR Camping World Truck Series broadcasts and was an original member of one of the longest running shows on the cable network, 'This Week in NASCAR' 1996-2009." (Full Story at The Daly Planet)

This sure sounds like everything concerning TWIN is in the past tense, doesn't it? Then there's the end date of 2009. By itself, I wouldn't say that's enough evidence to definitely call it canceled - the 2009 date could've just meant that it hasn't been on in 2010 yet - but the rest of the sentence, with its epitaph-like finality, leads me to believe it's probably over. Well, this sucks, if it's true. If they think they can replace the good times of TWIN with another cookie-cutter panel show that you have to pay extra to see, think again!