Dr. Jerry Punch, Where Are You? [Update]

UPDATE: After chatting with Andy Hall, the manager of media relations for ESPN Communications, it seems that this break for Jerry and Dave Burns was something worked into the schedule.

"Jerry will be back in the booth at Phoenix. His (and Dave Burns') two weeks off are part of a schedule for the year that rotates time off for our announcers. Between the 35 Busch races and the 17 Cup races, we're doing 52 races this year, plus practice and qualifying shows for a lot of those, so these guys are going to be very busy," said Hall.

He also mentioned that Rusty Wallace won't be back for another ten Busch races as he covers the Indianapolis 500, with Jarrett filling in.

So have no fear, Dr. Jerry Punch will be in the booth for each Cup race presented by ESPN, and expect to see Marty Reid doing a couple of other races as well.

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Hidden beneath the news that Dale Jarrett will serve as a substitute for Rusty Wallace for ESPN2's Busch Series coverage on Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway, Dr. Jerry Punch isn't returning to the TV booth for a second straight week.

Marty Reid, the lead announcer for the Indy Racing League on ESPN and ABC for 2006 and 2007, will again be featured in the booth as lead play-by-play announcer alongside Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree. Reid is in the spot of Punch, the man who was originally designated for the spot for both the early season Busch Series races and the Nextel Cup series events that ESPN and ABC will cover later this season.Last week, Rich Feinberg, who is ESPN's senior coordinating producer, implied that Punch and and pit reporter Dave Burns presumably had the weekend off from the Busch Series race in Nashville to celebrate Easter.

"We really focus on work and life balance at ESPN, and that priority extends to the people who work on our NASCAR telecasts. We're happy to have the luxury of bringing in very talented people like Shannon Spake from our studio shows and Marty Reid and Vince Welch from our IndyCar Series coverage to help us as we schedule some weekends off for our team."

So why, then, is Punch not back in the booth this week? (As for Burns, there is no indication he won't be on pit road this weekend.) A two week vacation seems quite out of the ordinary, especially considering Punch likely is home on Saturday after a Busch series event. Is ESPN already making a change because ratings are still down this season for the Busch Series?

After all, they haven't been shy in bringing in new faces to host NASCAR NOW.

As for Reid, the former NHRA on ESPN announcer did a nice job at Nashville last Saturday. He's been a solid performer for the IndyCar series and definitely knows his stuff around nearly every racing circle. However, Punch was a key player in ESPN's NASCAR programming during the 1990's, and he definitely deserves the role of lead play-by-play.

As of now, the FanHouse is still waiting on a reply from ESPN as to whether Punch will be in the booth at Phoenix.