Motorsports This Week on ESPN and ABC: Oct. 22-28

The Chase: NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Live from Atlanta on ABC

October 22, 2007 -- The Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup continues Sunday, Oct. 28, when the series visits Atlanta Motor Speedway, one of the fastest tracks in NASCAR, for 500 miles of racing action. ESPN on ABC will have live coverage of the Atlanta event as the 10-race Chase begins its final four events. The telecast begins at 1 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown.

The 1.54-mile Atlanta track lends itself to high-speed racing, with qualifying speeds in excess of 190 mph. Close finishes also are the norm at Atlanta, with the track’s double-bend frontstretch often leading to the winning pass being made in the last 100 yards to the finish line.

Brent Musburger will host ESPN on ABC’s coverage from Atlanta. 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. Wallace is the only national TV analyst who has competed in the Chase as a driver.

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 the NASCAR Busch Series and Truck Series, in the ESPN Pit Studio.

ESPN2 will have live, prime-time coverage of NASCAR NEXTEL Cup qualifying from Atlanta on Friday, Oct. 26, at 7 p.m. NASCAR Happy Hour practice airs Saturday, Oct. 27, at 6 p.m.

NASCAR Busch Series Action Live on ESPN2 Saturday from Memphis

On Saturday afternoon, ESPN2 continues its season-long coverage of the NASCAR Busch Series with live racing from Memphis Motorsports Park. The telecast of the 250-lap race begins at 3 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown.

The .75-mile Memphis track has been on the NASCAR Busch Series schedule since 1999 and has produced seven winners through eight events. Kevin Harvick, the only driver to have won twice at Memphis, drove to victory in last year’s race en route to the series championship. Harvick’s other Memphis win came in 2000.

Marty Reid will anchor ESPN2’s coverage from Memphis, with analysis by two-time NASCAR Busch Series champion Randy LaJoie and 1989 NASCAR Cup champion Rusty Wallace. Pit reporters will be Allen Bestwick, Shannon Spake and Vince Welch.

NASCAR: Chasing Glory Continues Wednesday on ESPN2

The fifth episode of ESPN2’s weekly series NASCAR: Chasing Glory airs Wednesday, Oct. 24, at 5:30 p.m. ET.

NASCAR: Chasing Glory is a behind-the-scenes look at the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. The 11-part series follows drivers during the final 11 races of the season and documents their preparation for the races.

ESPN Ultimate NASCAR Programs Thursday, Friday on ESPN2

NASCAR fans will have another chance to watch episodes of the summer series ESPN Ultimate NASCAR as ESPN2 re-airs two of the programs Thursday and Friday of this week.

The Explosion airs Thursday, Oct. 25, at 4 a.m. ET. The two-hour documentary examines NASCAR’s boom in popularity, particularly in the last decade. Actor J.K. Simmons, who played Ralph Earnhardt in the ESPN movie 3, narrates the program.

Greatest Drivers airs Friday, Oct. 26, at 5 a.m. and counts down the 20 best drivers in the history of NASCAR as selected by a special panel of journalists, historians and officials. ESPN racing announcer Dr. Jerry Punch and lead auto racing analyst Rusty Wallace host the program.

The shows include commentary from panelists and many others, such as former NASCAR champion and ESPN broadcaster Ned Jarrett, two-time NASCAR Cup champion Darrell Waltrip and Lowe’s Motor Speedway President and General Manager H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler.

NASCAR Now Schedule

NASCAR Now, ESPN2’s daily news and information show dedicated to NASCAR, will have its expanded one-hour edition on the air tonight at 5:30 p.m. ET, with extensive highlights from Sunday’s NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The program airs at 6 p.m. in its normal 30-minute format Tuesday through Friday of this week. The one-hour weekend edition airs Sunday, Oct.28, at 10 a.m. with a preview of that day’s NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race at Atlanta and highlights of the previous day’s NASCAR Busch Series race at Memphis. The weekend wrap-up edition airs Monday, Oct. 29, at midnight.

NASCAR Now is hosted by Erik Kuselias or Ryan Burr 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 Virginia This Weekend on ESPN2

With the inaugural Countdown to the Championship playoffs coming down to the last two events, the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series moves this weekend to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals. ESPN2 will have coverage of qualifying and finals. Qualifying coverage airs Saturday, Oct. 27, at 10 p.m. ET, with three hours of finals coverage Sunday, Oct. 28, at 7 p.m.

With the list of POWERade world championship hopefuls cut to four in each class, plenty is at stake in Las Vegas. The annual Shootout at Las Vegas, a $100,000-to-win bonus event for Top Fuel competitors, adds another element of interest to the season’s penultimate event and the championship-fueled drama.

Paul Page will anchor ESPN2’s coverage from Las Vegas, 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.

Other NHRA programming on ESPN2 this week includes action from the NHRA Xplōd Sport Compact Racing Series airing Tuesday, Oct. 23, at 5 p.m. ET, followed by an episode of NHRA Stylefest at 5:30 p.m.

ESPN Classic features action from the 2003 NHRA season Tuesday through Friday of this week at 11 a.m.

Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League Action Airs Sunday on ESPN2

Fans of truck and tractor pulling can check out the action Sunday, Oct. 28, with the Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League at 11:30 a.m. ET on ESPN2.

The program features events from the league’s recently completed 2007 Champions Tour. The series visited racetracks in North Carolina, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Missouri and New York.

Two Episodes of Autotrader.com DRIVE Featured This Week in ESPN2 Garage

Two episodes of the ESPN2 Garage program Autotrader.com DRIVE in HD will air Sunday night, while viewers also will have the chance to catch episodes of Mothers Car Show and Race Wizard with Ray Evernham this week.

Former Motor Trend magazine editor C. Van Tune and others take viewers behind the scenes at the top auto shows in the United States on DRIVE. Hosts analyze the latest models, concept cars and other automotive industry innovations. A program from the North American International Auto Show in Detroit airs Sunday, Oct. 28, at 10 p.m. ET, followed at 11 p.m. by an episode from the New York Auto Show.

Mothers Car Show showcases cars, bikes, trucks, sport compacts, street rods and everything else with wheels and an engine. An episode airs Thursday, Oct. 25, at 5 p.m.

Race Wizard brings NASCAR fans into the action as race team owner Ray Evernham answers questions submitted by viewers. The program airs Thursday, Oct. 25, 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

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