So you're ready to watch the race.

You're all decked out in your Dale Earnhardt Jr. hat, shirt, watch, sweatpants and socks. You've got a cold Budweiser — which you opened with your No. 8 bottle opener — in your Jr. glass sitting on your Jr. table beneath your Jr. flag.

And you just pulled a steak off the grill with your Jr. barbecue set.

Now if only the announcers would shut up about the other 42 drivers.

Never fear, Jr. fans — and fans of other drivers, too. DirecTV has a remedy for the network-feed blahs.

Starting with the Daytona 500 on Feb. 18, DirecTV is launching HotPass, a premium service that allows fans to follow one of five drivers each week.

Each channel has its own announcers dedicated to that driver, real-time stats and six different cameras. At any given time, two of those angles are shown — along with the network feed — on a triple-split screen.

NASCAR's entire 37-race season costs $99 for DirecTV subscribers. And starting in 2008, everything will be available in high definition.

"It's the home-team channel for your driver," said Chris Long, the executive producer for HotPass. "You're going to hear driver audio. You'll have the ability to listen (to the team), or you can listen to the announcers."

In addition to being able to eavesdrop on the chatter between driver and crew, the announcers can talk directly with willing drivers during cautions and red flags.

"Jr. has no problem talking during a caution," Long said. "Tony Stewart doesn't like to do it. Michael Waltrip will interrupt you to talk to you."

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SORRY, BORIS SAID FANS

The first batch of drivers to be featured in the rotation are Earnhardt Jr., Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Jimmy Johnson and Waltrip. The five drivers be selected each week, with NASCAR and DirecTV deciding whom to showcase.

"A number of factors will be considered," Andrew Giangola, NASCAR's Director of Business Communications, said in an e-mail. "Most prominent will be the fans' interest and the newsworthiness of the team. We will try to balance satisfying the largest number of fans with including the largest possible number of drivers."

And while the first week's group includes five Chevrolet drivers and a Toyota driver, the service will also try to make sure that as many teams as possible are featured, said Giangola, Long and DirecTV executive vice president of entertainment Eric Shanks.

So while Earnhardt Jr. is far and away NASCAR's most popular driver, he won't necessarily be in the rotation each week.

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A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME?

The idea came about when David Hill, who runs DirecTV's entertainment division, was hanging out on the pit box with team owner Richard Childress at a Busch Series race. At the two took turns monitoring Harvick's race progress, Hill realized that NASCAR was a series that lent itself well to one driver being followed because most of the races are in a fairly contained area.

After a couple test runs last year, DirecTV decided to launch the project, which fits right in with NASCAR's tradition of unprecedented fan access.

"NASCAR has always tried to give fans close access to the sport and its stars," Giangola said. "Years ago, NASCAR began allowing fans to walk the tracks before races, and created the only open locker room in sports — the garage area, where fans are allowed."

It's a model that's gaining ground as fans become more specialized and demand additional interactivity. Baseball managers chat with announcers during play at the World Series; DirecTV's NFL package includes the "Red Zone" channel, where commentators jump to from one city to another as teams get into scoring position.

And Yankee fans who subscribe to DirecTV can access the "Bonus Cam," an angle that focuses on one player or position.

Could choose-your-own camera angles for other major team sports be far behind?

HotPass allows DirecTV to give fans something along those lines already. Part of the reason it makes sense for NASCAR is that DirecTV only has one location to worry about each week.

"Imagine if on Sunday afternoon, they played every NFL game at one stadium. That's what NASCAR is. There's really 43 races going on on the track at one time. That's what the NASCAR fan knows and that's why they go to the track," Shanks said.

And the possibilities don't end there. Shanks said the package has been well-received by bars and restaurants.

"Just like there are (Philadelphia) Eagles bars, maybe there will be Jr. bars," Long said.

Hey, why not? After all, they wouldn't have a problem finding Jr. barstools.

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asap contributor Casey Laughman is seriously considering switching to DirecTV.

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