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This week NASCAR traveled to Hollywood where several drivers took the opportunity to meet with network execs and sign deals for their own shows. In the face of declining ratings for races, NASCAR officials hope the cross-over appeal of NASCAR drivers in scripted TV will boost its appeal. NBC's attempt to infuse its fall lineup with NASCAR programming failed, but experts feel now is the time.

Here's a closer look at some of the TV deals now in development.

While driving from Daytona to Charlotte, Kyle Busch was caught speeding in a Florida retirement community and forced to serve an unusual punishment: Busch has to live retirement community for a year and serve as its driving instructor. It's Golden Girls meets Stroker Ace with NASCAR's bad boy Kyle Busch in the lead role. Joining Rowdy in the cast are emmy-winner Doris Roberts as the meddling neighbor always trying to set up Kyle with single retirees and Darrell Waltrip as the casanova of the retirement community and Kyle's court-appointed roommate.

 
SPEED has a new show called RACE HUB, which airs Monday through Thursday at 7pm ET/4pm PT. The reason I mention it is that SPEED has put some behind-the-scenes footage online, and this stuff is fun to watch, especially if you're into the unintentionally awkward comedy of Brad Keselowski. 

By JOE DONATELLI and CHRIS M.

FONTANA, Calif. _ Living in Los Angeles, we’ve spent a little time on the sets of television shows. You can always count on a few things at TV tapings, and one of them is the punishing heat of studio lights. Those lights are the reason why, when audience members attend their first taping of, say, The Late Show with David Letterman in New York, they are surprised at how cold the room is. The director keeps the temperature low because no one wants to watch actor Jonah Hill sweat his way through an eight-minute interview – at least not anyone normal.

Inside the ESPN Pit Studio, which has come to Fontana for the Pepsi Max 400, you can stand two feet beneath dozens of studio lights without breaking a sweat. That’s because the lights are LED. They emit no noticeable heat. This is important. The studio is a modified big rig trailer. Less heat in the studio means a smaller air conditioner, which means a lighter load, which is necessary when your truck weighs 78,000 pounds and there is an 80,000-pound legal road limit.

LED lighting is just one small detail, among many thousands, that someone deemed necessary in order to make possible the weekly production that is ESPN’s traveling NASCAR broadcast. This show is on the road 10 months a year, is comprised of 11 mobile units, lays out 20 miles of cable at each track, has enough portable power to run a small town, captures video and audio on 60 to 75 HD cameras and 100-plus microphones, rents 150 hotel rooms in every city and credentials 225 people for every Sprint Cup event. The Worldwide Leader granted All Left Turns a tour of the ESPN Pit Studio, its production compound and the ESPN Tech Garage. The setup, in a word, is impressive.

Jamie McMurray and David Letterman talk potholes on the Late Show following McMurray's Daytona 500 win. Good stuff from McMurray, who plays along well with Letterman.