Last season DirecTV offered a special HOTPASS package with the chase races only and I signed up for it. I was kind of unimpressed with it so at the end of the season I cancelled it. But then I found myself with a little extra money and I was kind of missing HotPass so I reordered it before the start of this season (admittedly based partially on the Tony Stewart commercials). Again I find myself disappointed. I really don’t think it is worth the over $80.00 it ends up being worth the extras.

Here is my list of my major complaints so far about HOTPASS:

1. There isn’t enough Tony Stewart. I really think that HOTPASS should be available for all drivers and you as a customer should get to pick a driver and follow them throughout the year. Or maybe even pick two drivers. Tony Stewart seems to be used exclusively to advertise the product…bring on my Smoke!

2. Team audio is obviously censored. I don’t pay all that money to listen to censored conversations. I want to hear it all…good, bad or ugly. Team audio is probably THE reason I signed up for HOTPASS do not ruin it for me by censoring it.

3. During the chase races last year there were 5 drivers to pick from each week – it has changed to four drivers this season.

4. Figure out a way so that the DVRs pick HOTPASS back up after a rain delay.

5. Figure out a way so that if you DVR the HOTPASS you can still use the alternate audio feeds.

6. Cut out the cheesy bumper music when popping back in from commercial breaks. Us Tony Stewart fans can only take so much “Smoke On The Water”. Seriously.

Here is a list of what HOTPASS does well:

1. Exclusive pre-race, during race, and sometimes even post race interviews.

Here is a list of what HOTPASS does okay with but could do better:

1. The Top 13 drivers team audio only channel. This at least lets me listen to Tony’s team audio even when he isn’t a driver (as long as he doesn’t drop out of the top 12). I like this. Would it be possible to have the ability to either completely mute or at least turn down the fox audio on the same channel so that I can actually hear what the crew members are saying?