Motorsports This Week on ESPN and ABC

September 10, 2007 -- ESPN on ABC will have live coverage of all 10 races in the Chase, beginning this Sunday at New Hampshire International Speedway. It will be the first time since NASCAR instituted the Chase format that all races will be televised by the same network.

The Chase Is On - NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Live on ABC Sunday from New Hampshire

The Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup championship begins with Sunday’s 300-lap race at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, N.H. ESPN on ABC will have live coverage of the New Hampshire event and all 10 races in the Chase. The New Hampshire telecast begins at 1 p.m. ET with the pre-race NASCAR Countdown program.

Five former NASCAR NEXTEL Cup champions are among the 12 drivers in the Chase, NASCAR’s version of the playoffs. Defending champion Jimmie Johnson, winner of the past two races, is the top seed entering the Chase and is joined by former champions Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch.

Also in the Chase: Daytona 500 winner Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch.

Brent Musburger will be the New Hampshire telecast host, while Dr. Jerry Punch will handle play-by-play for the race telecast, joined in the booth for analysis by 1989 NASCAR Cup champion Rusty Wallace and two-time NASCAR champion crew chief Andy Petree. Pit reporters will be Allen Bestwick, Dave Burns, Jamie Little and Mike Massaro. Two-time NASCAR champion crew chief Tim Brewer will report from the ESPN DISH Tech Center.

Suzy Kolber will host NASCAR Countdown along with analyst Brad Daugherty, a former winning team owner in NASCAR’s Busch and Truck series, in the ESPN Pit Studio.

ESPN2 will have live coverage of NASCAR NEXTEL Cup qualifying from NHIS on Friday, Sept. 14, at 3 p.m. A one-hour program covering final practice for the race will air at 7 p.m. Saturday.

NASCAR in Primetime Five-Part Series Concludes Wednesday on ABC

Where does the dream of being a stock car driver begin? It’s a steep ascent to the upper echelons of NASCAR and few manage to make the climb. What differentiates those who succeed in NASCAR from those who don’t? To find the answer, the finale of NASCAR in Primetime delves into the lives of drivers at different levels of racing. The program will air Wednesday, Sept. 12, at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.

Tony Stewart is, by many measures, the ultimate race car driver. He has won championships in sprint cars, Indy cars and, most recently, the 2002 and 2005 NASCAR Cup championships. While he admits racing is all he has known, the show looks at how the pressure of being in the public eye can sometimes be more intense for Stewart than the pressure to perform on the racetrack. Still, his career is what racing dreams are made of. Drivers from all ranks of racing envy his achievements, and they won’t be deterred from trying to match – or surpass – them.

ABC also revisits the life of NASCAR rookie Juan Pablo Montoya, a former Formula One driver is no stranger to life in the fast lane, and Stanton Barrett, a Hollywood stuntman who has spent most of his life savings to fund his racing career.

Today’s NASCAR drivers come from all walks of life, but the local go-kart tracks are often the breeding ground for the next generation of racing superstars. Viewers meet Sage Karam, who is 12 years old and one of the top go-kart racers in America. And Stewart is his hero.

NASCAR Now Schedule

NASCAR Now, ESPN2’s daily news and information show dedicated to NASCAR, will air at 6 p.m. in its normal 30-minute format Tuesday through Friday of this week on ESPN2. The one-hour weekend edition will air Sunday at 10 a.m. with a preview of Sunday’s NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race at New Hampshire International Speedway. The weekend wrap-up edition will air Monday, Sept. 17, at 12:30 a.m.

The one-hour Monday edition of NASCAR Now will air at 5:30 p.m.

NASCAR Now is hosted by Erik Kuselias, Ryan Burr or Allen Bestwick and originates from ESPN’s High Definition studios in Bristol, Conn., with reporters Mike Massaro and Shannon Spake. Contributors include analysts Tim Brewer, Brad Daugherty, Stacy Compton and Boris Said, along with NASCAR insiders Terry Blount, Angelique Chengelis, Tim Cowlishaw, David Newton and Marty Smith, as well as D.J. Copp, a member of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s NASCAR team.

NHRA Coverage from Memphis To Air This Weekend on ESPN2

With the start of the inaugural Countdown to the Championship playoffs, the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series moves to the Memphis Motorsports Park this weekend for the O’Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals. ESPN2 will have coverage of qualifying and finals. Qualifying coverage from the Tennessee drag racing facility will air at midnight ET Saturday, with three hours of finals coverage at 7 p.m. Sunday.

NHRA’s annual visit to “the birthplace of the Blues” moves from its muggy mid-August date to cooler climes, which should drastically improve the performance potential of a racetrack that has shined under great weather conditions while also providing a challenge for the team’s top tuners. For the Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock teams still in the Countdown to the Championship, this is the second of four events in the second cut of the program, and it is the second of three for Pro Stock Motorcycle riders.

Paul Page will anchor ESPN2’s coverage from Memphis, with analysis by 22-time NHRA winner Mike Dunn. Gary Gerould, Dave Rieff and John Kernan will report the action from the pits. Rieff also will host Sunday’s NHRA Race Day at 11 a.m. on ESPN2. The half-hour program will set the stage for Sunday’s eliminations with driver interviews, features and up-to-the-minute information.

Indy Pro Series Chicagoland Action Will Air Thursday

The Indy Pro Series, the feeder series for the IndyCar Series, will be on the air Thursday, Sept. 13, at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2 with a half-hour recap of last weekend’s action from Chicagoland Speedway. The Indy Pro Series drivers and teams ran in conjunction with the IndyCar Series at the 1.5-mile superspeedway for the season finale of both series.

Bob Jenkins will call the action in the telecast, joined for analysis by Robbie Buhl and Mike King. ESPN2 has tape-delayed coverage of all Indy Pro Series events this season.

PowerSports ATV Tour Competition Returns Friday

Action from the PowerSports ATV Tour will air Friday, Sept. 14, at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2. The one-hour program will contain highlights from Round Eight of the series as the ATV Tour appears on ESPN2 for the second year.

The PowerSports ATV Championship Tour is North America’s premier professional ATV racing circuit, featuring QuadMX, QuadTerrain and SuperSport Pro series action as well as 20-plus amateur classes for adults, women and children. The Tour is sanctioned by the World PowerSports Association, North America’s most respected snowmobile and ATV sanctioning body, and a promoter of ATV and snowmobile racing on both the regional and national level.

Stacey David’s GearZ to Highlight ESPN2 Garage Programs Airing This Week

Four episodes of Stacey David’s GearZ will air this week as part of the ESPN2 Garage block of automotive programming. In addition, new episodes of Race Wizard with Ray Evernham and King of the Strip will premiere.

GearZ, an entertaining how-to program that focuses on trucks, hot rods and other rides, will air Wednesday (5 p.m. ET), Thursday (5:30 p.m.), Friday (7 p.m.) and Sunday (12:30 p.m.) this week. In each episode, David completes a high-end build and then takes it on the road, off-road or in the mud for a true test drive.

Back-to-back episodes of King of the Strip will air Sunday, Sept. 16, starting at 11:30 a.m. Race Wizard with Ray Evernham will air Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. The ESPN2 Garage program Hot Rod Television will air Tuesday at 5 p.m. and Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

Designed to complement ESPN’s extensive coverage of NASCAR, IndyCar, Champ Car and NHRA racing in 2007, ESPN2 Garage is dedicated to the automotive, motorcycle and motorsports worlds. ESPN2 will air more than 1,100 hours of motorsports programming in 2007.

Source: ESPN / ABC

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