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Motorsports This Week on ESPN

Monday August 18, 2008

 

NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series Live Under the Lights from Bristol on ESPN
One of the most exciting and popular races of the year on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is the annual night race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. The half-mile concrete oval, with 160,000 fans surrounding it, becomes a battleground as sparks fly and brakes glow red-hot, all under the glare of stadium lighting. ESPN and ESPN HD will have live, flag-to-flag coverage of the 500-lap race on Saturday, August 23, beginning at 7 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown. The telecast is presented by Pennzoil Platinum and is simulcast on ESPN Deportes. The race replays on Sunday, Aug. 24, at noon on ESPN Classic.
Dr. Jerry Punch will be lead announcer for ESPN’s coverage, joined in the booth for analysis by 1999 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Dale Jarrett and two-time champion crew chief Andy Petree. Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Mike Massaro and Shannon Spake will be pit reporters with two-time champion crew chief Tim Brewer in the ESPN Tech Center.
The pre-race NASCAR Countdown show from the ESPN pit studio will be hosted by Allen Bestwick, with 1989 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Rusty Wallace and analyst Brad Daugherty. The studio team will interact with the booth during the telecast of the race.
As part of the week’s buildup to the event, ESPN Classic airs the 1985 Valleydale 500 race at Bristol on Thursday, Aug. 21, at 2 p.m. The race originally aired on ESPN and was won by Dale Earnhardt.
ESPN also has a live telecast of the NASCAR Nationwide Series event at Bristol on Friday, Aug. 22, beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown. The telecast airs in high definition on ESPN HD and is simulcast on ESPN Deportes.

Benson, Said in NASCAR Now Monday Roundtable Discussion
The Monday, Aug. 25, edition of NASCAR Now, ESPN2’s daily NASCAR news and information show, at 5 p.m. ET will include host Allen Bestwick leading a roundtable discussion of the latest NASCAR news and races. Panel members for the show will be current NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Johnny Benson, ESPN analyst Boris Said and ESPN pit reporter Mike Massaro. Half-hour episodes of NASCAR Now air Tuesday through Thursday of this week at 5 p.m.
Two editions of NASCAR Now, both one hour in length, air Saturday, Aug. 23. The program airs at 10 a.m. with a preview of that night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Bristol, while the weekend wrap-up edition airs at 11:30 p.m. Said will be an in-studio analyst for the programs.
NASCAR Now is hosted by Ryan Burr, Nicole Manske and Bestwick and originates from ESPN’s high definition studios in Bristol, Conn. Contributors include NASCAR Insiders Marty Smith and Angelique Chengelis, analysts Ray Evernham, Tim Brewer, Brad Daugherty, Boris Said and Tim Cowlishaw, ESPN.com reporters Ed Hinton, Terry Blount and David Newton and D.J. Copp, a member of the Petty Enterprises NASCAR team.
NASCAR Now viewers also benefit from frequent contributions by the NASCAR on ESPN team including Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett, Dr. Jerry Punch, Andy Petree, Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Mike Massaro and Shannon Spake.

GM Engineer Alba Colon Featured on ESPN Newsmagazine E:60 Tuesday
ESPN’s primetime newsmagazine E:60 airs Tuesday, Aug. 19, at 7 p.m. ET, and will include a feature on General Motors engineer Alba Colon, considered by many as one of the most powerful women in NASCAR. Barely five feet tall, the native of Puerto Rico is a giant in NASCAR – the highest-ranked female engineer in the sport. As GM’s program manager, Colon has won five consecutive Manufacturers’ Championships and is a driving force behind some of NASCAR’s biggest names, including Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Colon’s journey from being an engineering student to powerful figure in NASCAR has not been easy. She has battled the perception that women don’t belong in NASCAR’s garages. In spite of these challenges, Colon has become one of the most respected figures in NASCAR, reports E:60’s Lisa Salters.

IndyCar Series Goes California Road Racing on ESPN2
The stars and cars of the IndyCar Series go road course racing this weekend, and ESPN2 will have live coverage of the IndyCar Grand Prix of Sonoma from Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., Sunday, Aug. 24, at 5:30 p.m. ET. The event is the third-from-last in the 2008 season and season-long points leader Scott Dixon will be trying to clinch his second IndyCar title.
ESPN360.com, ESPN’s signature broadband TV network, airs live coverage of IndyCar Series qualifying from Infineon Raceway at 4:15 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 23. ESPN360.com and ESPN MobileTV also will simulcast the race.
Marty Reid will be lead announcer for ESPN2’s coverage with analysis by former IndyCar Series star Scott Goodyear. Jack Arute, Brienne Pedigo and Vince Welch will report from the pits.

NHRA Lucas Oil Sportsman Series Action Airs Sunday
The NHRA Lucas Oil Sportsman Series, the developmental series for NHRA drag racing, will be on ESPN2 on Sunday, Aug. 24, at 10 a.m. The program will feature action from the recent NHRA event in Reading, Penn.

NHRA Fans Can Relive Events on ESPN Classic
Fans of the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series will have opportunities all week to relive some of the great events of the 2003 season as ESPN Classic opens the archives and brings the events back to life on TV. The programs air at 11 a.m. ET Tuesday through Friday of this week and Monday of next week.
On Tuesday, Aug. 19, fans can watch the action of the 2003 Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals from Sonoma, Calif., while Wednesday’s program features the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd, Minn. The Carquest Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at Joliet, Ill., air Thursday with the O’Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals from Dallas airing Friday. Monday’s program features the ACDelco NHRA Nationals at Las Vegas
ESPN2 is the home for the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series and the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series.

Do you want the chance to win a free Frontstretch T-Shirt, and are you really good at talking about NASCAR? Well, we have the perfect opportunity for you. Our staff will be giving away a free T-Shirt to the reader who makes the best post in our Frontstretch Forum between now and the end of the season. So, what makes a good post? It’s pretty hard to impress us, but here are some things we are looking for:

Does your post spark passionate reactions from other readers? Are you commenting on meaningful NASCAR-related events? Do your posts have substance? In other words, “Dale Jr. is the best driver ever” or “Danica Patrick is hot” will not cut it.

So go to the Frontstretch Forums, post early, post often, and post well! We’ll announce the winner following the final race of the season at Homestead.

This report was provided by an outside PR source and posted by Kim DeHaven.

 

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