As Seen and Heard on ESPN on ABC’s NASCAR Countdown from Martinsville Speedway

October 21, 2007 -- The Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup continued Sunday, Oct. 21, with the Subway 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Coverage of the event began at 1 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown. Suzy Kolber hosted NASCAR Countdown, with 1989 NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty, a former winning team owner in the NASCAR Busch Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. NASCAR team owner Ray Evernham was a guest in the ESPN Pit Studio. Some NASCAR Countdown highlights:

On Martinsville Speedway, the smallest track in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup racing

DR. JERRY PUNCH, ESPN LEAD ANNOUNCER – “Folks this racetrack is about the size of your average shopping mall parking lot. Now imagine putting 43 cars in a mall parking lot and telling these guys you can go just over 100 mph but at the end of the day there’s only going to be one parking spot available that you really want. How quickly would that get ugly? Our shopping mall lot that we call Martinsville Speedway is about to be opened for business.”

Racing on short tracks – what’s fair and what isn’t?

2006 NASCAR NEXTEL CUP CHAMPION JIMMIE JOHNSON (to ESPN pit reporter Dave Burns) – “In short track racing, no matter if it’s Jeff (Gordon) or anyone in front of me, there’s a line that you can race up to, but you don’t want to cross it. Jeff got right up to the line, and the race before that Denny Hamlin got right up to the line but didn’t cross it, and if I’m in second I’ve got to do the same thing.”

The success of crew chiefs Chad Knaus (Jimmie Johnson) and Steve Letarte (Jeff Gordon)

BRAD DAUGHERTY (ESPN analyst and former winning team owner) – “I’ve talked to both of these guys and I think they micromanage their situations during the week so that when they get to the race track, they’re ultimately prepared to do whatever it takes, whenever it takes it, to win that race.”

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

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