The Adventures of Digger and Friends is a series of animated vignettes that showed during

NASCAR on Fox ''NASCAR on Fox'', also known as ''Fox NASCAR'', is the branding used for broadcasts of NASCAR races produced by Fox Sports (United States), Fox Sports and have aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox television network in the United States si ...

pre-race shows during the 2009 NASCAR season.

Background

In 2009,

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

announced that "Digger", who had already been a mascot for the corner camera in NASCAR, would be the subject of a series of vignettes that would air during

pre-races.

Keith Urban Keith Lionel Urban ( né Urbahn; 26 October 1967) is an Australian and American country singer, songwriter and guitarist. Recognised with four Grammy Awards, he has also received 15 Academy of Country Music Awards, including the Jim Reeves Int ...

composed a new single for the show, called "Lil' Digger". In an interview, Urban was noticeably happy with creating the song, saying "How could you turn the critter down? I immediately went to my drum machine, then to my guitar, back to my drum machine and on to my banjo and it wasn't long before I had the song. I just hope that Digger likes it." An animation studio in Romania animated the series. The character of Digger also made a brief cameo in the 2009 film '' Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel''; the character is briefly seen when a lead character's car zooms past him on a busy street, prompting him to joke, "Feels like I'm back at the racetrack!"

Characters

* Digger (

Eric Bauza Eric Bauza (born December 7, 1979) is a Canadian voice actor based in the United States. He is mostly known for voicing several ''Looney Tunes'' characters, for which he won three Emmy Awards for his performances in '' Looney Tunes Cartoons'' (20 ...

): A

gopher Pocket gophers, commonly referred to simply as gophers, are burrowing rodents of the family Geomyidae. The roughly 41 speciesSearch results for "Geomyidae" on thASM Mammal Diversity Database are all endemic to North and Central America. They ar ...

obsessed with NASCAR racing. Frequently causes mischief at the racetrack, causing Lumpy to chase him. * Annie (Haley Mancini): Digger's girlfriend. * Marbles: Digger's friend. * Gramps: Digger's grandpa and a fan of NASCAR since the beginnings of the sport. * Lumpy Wheels: A security guard who constantly chases Digger for causing mischief at the track.

Premise

The series follows Digger's life, and adventures in a racetrack with his friend, Marbles, his girlfriend, Annie, his grandpa, Gramps, and a police officer that chases Digger's mischievous acts, Lumpy Wheels, who was named after former Fox Sports president David Hill and former

Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009 due to sponsorship reasons) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Concord, North Carolina. It has hosted various major races since it ...

general manager

Humpy Wheeler Howard Augustine Wheeler Jr. (born October 23, 1938), nicknamed Humpy Wheeler, is an American motorsports executive and businessman. He is best known as the former general manager of Charlotte Motor Speedway, a banked racetrack in Concord, Nort ...

Criticism

After a NASCAR town hall-style meeting at the end of May 2009, Fox Sports chair David Hill reported receiving an email from a high-ranking NASCAR official whose identity he chose to conceal, stating that Digger could have been the cause of ratings declines for Fox's NASCAR coverage. (Even though this occurred a few years into a lengthy period of NASCAR television ratings decline that is still ongoing.) Hill said "It was because of Digger that people were turning off in droves because they couldn't stand it, I said, I'm so sorry. If I'd known, I never would have created him. I didn't realize how insidious he was. It's the biggest crock of shit I've ever heard." The criticism led to Fox Sports slowly phasing out the character in 2010; it was completely removed from their broadcasts by the time the 2012 Subway Fresh Fit 500 aired which was the second race of the

2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series file:StephenLeichtMilwaukee2009.jpg, Stephen Leicht, won the 2012 NASCAR Rookie of the Year. file:Jeff Gordon, 2012 Kobalt Tools 400.jpg, Chevrolet won the List of NASCAR Manufacturers' champions, Manufacturer's championship with 15 wins & 24 ...

season.

Episodes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adventures of Digger and Friends, The Fox Broadcasting Company animated television series 2009 American animated television series debuts 2009 American television series endings 2000s American animated comedy television series 2000s American children's comedy television series 2000s American sketch comedy television series 2000s American sports television series American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated comedy television series American children's animated sports television series American computer-animated television series Children's sketch comedy NASCAR on television Fox Sports original programming Animated television series about rodents NASCAR controversies 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Keith Urban