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via Imago

via Imago

Ahead of the NASCAR Cup race at the Phoenix Raceway, tragedy struck the community. FOX Sports commentator Adam Alexander will miss the weekend owing to personal reasons. As it turns out, he lost a member of his family, so he elected to be with them in this trying time. Meanwhile, FOX Sports has managed to compensate for Alexander’s loss with the addition of Jamie Little to the commentary team.

Little won’t be alone, as NASCAR Cup drivers Joey Logano and Daniel Suarez are joining her in the booth. She will be in the booth with the two Cup drivers during the Xfinity Series race. Meanwhile, she will also be commentating on the ARCA series and will be a pit reporter as well. Normally, Jamie Little plies her trade as a pit reporter, but she has occasionally had a few stints in the commentary booth.

Some NASCAR fans were not very receptive to the move

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Admittedly, a number of fans were not too thrilled at the prospect of Little being a commentator. Their justification was that, while she excelled as a pit reporter, she wasn’t quite cut out for play-by-play commentary. As one person put it, “Being a play by play announcer takes a special kind of person to do it well. Adam Alexander is one of the best at it.”

Another wrote, “Jamie Little is one of the best pit reporters to ever cover this sport. She just isn’t it for the booth. Props to her for stepping in for Adam this weekend, and it doesn’t help that FOX doesn’t pay attention nearly as well as they used to, but the experiment isn’t working.”

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In essence, the general consensus was that being a pit reporter or a commentator required different skills. Some have observed that Little’s energy and inflection as a commentator were not quite up to par. As a result, she would fall short of being a great commentator, but her skill as a pit reporter was unparalleled.

Spare a thought for the absent Adam Alexander

In all this, there has been an outpouring of support and sympathy for Alexander. Some people admitted that when he was just starting out as a commentator, he also faced a lot of criticism. However, he has improved massively since then, and a few fans were hoping to see more of him in the future. According to many, watching the Xfinity Series has been a lot more fun, ever since Adam Alexander began commentating.

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READ MORE: Joey Logano Exposè of NASCAR’s Financial Unfairness Goes Unheard as Phoenix’ Cup Series Purse Asserts Glaring Disparity

Coming back to Jamie Little, though, many admired her for volunteering to cover for Adam Alexander. A lot of fans still believe that some of her best work has been as a pit reporter. Admittedly, her job is a little easier because there is no Truck race this weekend, and it is only ARCA, Xfinity, and Cup.