As Seen and Heard on ESPN on ABC's NASCAR Countdown from Talladega Superspeedway

October 7, 2007 -- The Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup continued Sunday, Oct. 7, at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. The event marked the first time teams raced on a large superspeedway with NASCAR’s Car of Tomorrow. Coverage of the event began at 1 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown. Suzy Kolber hosted NASCAR Countdown, with two-time NASCAR champion crew chief Tim Brewer reporting from the ESPN DISH Tech Center. Some NASCAR Countdown highlights:

Around the Garage – Jacques Villeneuve Making his NASCAR NEXTEL Cup debut in the Chase Race at Talladega

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KYLE BUSCH - “I wouldn’t doubt that Jacques Villeneuve isn’t a tremendous talent and that he doesn’t have the ability to do it, or the ability to be competitive and be fast here. The only problem that all of us do have here is that he’s making it his debut at Talladega.”

JACQUES VILLENEUVE, ONE OF THREE DRIVERS TO WIN THE INDY 500, CHAMP CAR POINTS TITLE AND THE F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP – “The debut here is because it’s the only race before Daytona, and it’s very important to race here and get experience. I understand their concern and their fight for the chase and points, they don’t know what to expect. So just for the race, we’ll pull back and start at the back and let them fight it off and show a little respect.”

2007 Indy 500 Winner and 2007 IndyCar Series Champion Dario Franchiti Raced His First Stock Car Race at Talladega; Will Race full time in 2008 Sprint Cup Series

DARIO FRANCHITI ON HIS FIRST EXPERIENCE IN A STOCK CAR THIS PAST THURSDAY – “It was baptism of fire I think. I got in the car and figured I’d strap myself in and I was waiting for them to push back into the stall and didn’t realize I had to put it in reverse first to do that. I couldn’t find pit lane at first….I eventually found pit lane on the track and we went from there.”

On his 17th place finish in Friday’s ARCA Series race – “It was crazy to start. We qualified sixth but then had to go to the back for an engine change. From there I was learning all day. I made some good moves and got up to eighth, but then made a complete mess of the first pit stop. I let the RPM’s get too low and stopped the power steering working. I learned so much, I was pretty happy.”

Toyota Takes the Pole; Top three Starting Positions at Talladega

MICHAEL WALTRIP TAKES FIRST TALLADEGA POLE; FIRST TOP 10 START OF THE SEASON – “I’m proud that NAPA mainly stuck with me. You don’t understand how close I got, probably 10 times, just telling them I was going to let someone else drive. I didn’t know who I was at that point. They said, No, you’re our guy. You’ll win again and we want to be there with you when you do. Their patience and Toyota’s patience has been the key to our survival and now it’s time to prosper.”

About NASCAR on ESPN:

ESPN and ESPN on ABC has comprehensive, multi-platform coverage featuring telecasts of the final 17 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races, including the 10-race “Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup” championship on ESPN on ABC. Additionally, ESPN2 is the home of the NASCAR Busch Series all season. For the first time in the history of televised motorsports, all programming is produced totally in High Definition. ESPN’s comprehensive, multimedia NASCAR coverage extends to ESPN.com, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Deportes Radio, SportsCenter, ESPN The Magazine, ESPN Classic, ESPNEWS, ESPNRadio, ESPN360.com and ESPN International, among other ESPN platforms. ESPN aired 262 NASCAR Cup Races over a 20-year period starting in 1981. The network's award-winning, live flag-to-flag coverage on ESPN was honored with 17 Sports Emmy Awards, as well as many industry honors. It is widely credited for helping to popularize the sport nationwide. NASCAR races have appeared on ABC for decades, beginning with broadcasts on the award-winning Wide World of Sports program in the 1960s.

Source: ESPN