IndyCar

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Returns to ESPN with Allstate 400 at the Brickyard

July 21, 2008 -- The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returns to ESPN with live, flag-to-flag coverage of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard from Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 27, at 1 p.m. ET. The Allstate 400 at the Brickyard is the first of 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup events on the ESPN networks to close out the 2008 NASCAR season. The first six air on ESPN, with the final 11 on ABC, including all 10 races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

NASCAR Nationwide Series Live in Prime Time from Daytona on ESPN2

June 30, 2008 -- ESPN2 continues its season-long coverage of the NASCAR Nationwide Series with a live, prime-time telecast of the 250-mile race at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway Friday, July 4, beginning at 7 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown. The telecast from the 2.5-mile superspeedway also airs in high definition on ESPN2 HD.

Dale Jarrett Returns to Booth as NASCAR Nationwide Series Live from New Hampshire on ABC

June 23, 2008 -- Dale Jarrett returns to the TV booth Saturday, June 28, as ESPN on ABC presents live coverage of the NASCAR Nationwide Series Camping World RV Sales 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H. The telecast begins at 2:30 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown and the green flag flies at 3:15 p.m. The telecast from the 1.058-mile track also airs in high definition on ABC HD.

NASCAR Nationwide Series Live from Nashville on ESPN2

June 2, 2008 -- ESPN2’s season-long coverage of the NASCAR Nationwide Series continues with a live telecast of the event at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway Saturday, June 7, beginning at 7 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown. The telecast is presented by Craftsman. The race also airs in high definition on ESPN2 HD and will be simulcast on ESPN360.com, ESPN MobileTV and ESPN Deportes.

NASCAR Nationwide Series Hits the Monster Mile Live on ESPN2

May 26, 2008 -- ESPN2’s season-long coverage of the NASCAR Nationwide Series continues with a live telecast of the event at Dover (Del.) International Speedway Saturday, May 31, beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown. The telecast at the track known as The Monster Mile is presented by DAP. The race also airs in high definition on ESPN2 HD and will be simulcast on ESPN360.com, ESPN MobileTV and ESPN Deportes.

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., May 16, 2008 -- Bishop Steering Technology's variable ratio rack and pinion steering, new to the 92nd Indianapolis 500 race, wins the BorgWarner Louis Schwitzer Award for most exceptional racing technology advancement.

Engineers Andrew Heathershaw, Soungjin Wou and Nick Belonogoff of Bishop Steering Technology and Andrea Toso from Dallara Chassis will be honored with the 42nd annual BorgWarner Louis Schwitzer Award for their work in the development and implementation of this technology for the IndyCar(R) Series.

The variable ratio rack and pinion steering technology developed by Bishop, whose North American facility is located in Indianapolis, IN, offers a number of driver performance benefits:

-- Reduces driver fatigue through improved ease in steering

TOKYO, Japan, April 16, 2008 – Honda Motor Co., Ltd. announced that the FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle will serve as the official car of the 2008 Indy Japan event (2008 IRL IndyCar Series 3rd race: Bridgestone Indy Japan 300 Mile) to be held at Twin Ring Motegi in Tochigi, Japan, April 17-19.

Honda FCX Clarity Fuel Cell Vehicle:: Official car for 2008 Indy Japan

NASCAR Nationwide Series Live in Prime Time from Phoenix on ESPN2

April 7, 2008 -- ESPN2 continues its season-long coverage of the NASCAR Nationwide Series with a live, flag-to-flag primetime telecast of the 200-mile race from Phoenix International Raceway Friday, April 5, beginning at 9:30 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown. The telecast is presented by Cici’s Pizza. ESPN2 is the home of the NASCAR Nationwide Series all season, with selected races on ESPN and ABC.

NASCAR Nationwide Series Live from Texas on ESPN2

March 31, 2008 -- After a weekend off, the NASCAR Nationwide Series returns to action this weekend and ESPN2 will have live, flag-to-flag coverage of the 300-mile race from Texas Motor Speedway Saturday, April 5, beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown. The telecast is presented by Star Motorcycles. ESPN2 is the home of the NASCAR Nationwide Series all season, with selected races on ESPN and ABC.

Unification Signal Dawn of New Era in Open Wheel Racing

March 25, 2008 -- As a new era of IndyCar Series racing dawns this weekend at Florida’s Homestead-Miami Speedway after the recent unification of American open wheel racing, coverage of the series also will reach new heights this year as ESPN televises all races in high definition for the first time.

ESPN2 will have live coverage of the XM Indy 300 from the 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, March 29, at 8 p.m. ET, and all events in the series will appear on the ESPN networks.

NASCAR Now Schedule Includes Monday Roundtable Discussion

March 24, 2008 -- NASCAR Now, ESPN2’s daily NASCAR news and information show, features news, highlights, opinion, debate and analysis from drivers, crew chiefs and insiders both on and off the track.

On Monday, March 31, host Allen Bestwick leads a discussion of the Martinsville Speedway weekend and other NASCAR news in a one-hour episode airing at 6 p.m. ET. Joining Bestwick will be a panel of ESPN’s NASCAR analysts and reporters. Half-hour episodes of NASCAR Now air Tuesday through Thursday of this week at 6 p.m. and Friday at the special time of 8 p.m. The one-hour weekend edition airs Sunday at 10 a.m. with a preview of the NASCAR Sprint Cup event at Martinsville.

St. Joseph, Mo., February 8, 2008 – LifeLine Foods, a pioneer in the production of food and energy, will join forces with the IndyCar® Series for the 2008 season as the official supplier of the 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol used in all IndyCar Series cars. The St. Joseph, Mo. facility was contracted by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) to supply approximately 120,000 gallons of the fuel to the IndyCar Series. With the transition to an ethanol-blend in 2006 and then 100% fuel-grade ethanol in 2007, the IndyCar Series was the first motorsports league to require use of a renewable fuel.

DETROIT, Jan. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- NAIAS Racing Day will commence at the 2008 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit on Friday, Jan. 25 during NAIAS Public Days. Presented by Sprint, and in its third year, the event offers motorsports fans the rare opportunity to meet American Le Mans Series, IndyCar Series and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series superstars and walk away with exclusive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Sprint-branded giveaways.

January 10, 2008 -- Fans of the IndyCar Series will be treated to a new look for event telecasts in 2008 as ESPN will televise all 16 events of the series in high definition for the first time. ESPN on ABC’s coverage of the 2007 Indianapolis 500 was the first IndyCar Series event ever to be televised in HD.

All cameras used in ESPN’s IndyCar Series coverage will be HD, including in-car cameras and those used in the pits and for other points of view. Included will be an HD onboard camera that can provide a rotating 360-degree view.

December 12, 2007 -- ESPN on ABC will televise the Indianapolis 500 for the 44th year and ESPN will celebrate its 13th year of IndyCar Series coverage as two longstanding motorsports relationships continue in the upcoming 2008 season.

The entire 16-race season for the IndyCar Series will appear on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC. The 2008 television schedule includes seven events on both ESPN2 and ABC and two on ESPN. The networks also will cover Indianapolis 500 qualifying May 10-11 and 17-18.

October 27, 2007 -- On Saturday afternoon, ESPN2 continued its season-long coverage of the NASCAR Busch Series with live racing from Memphis Motorsports Park in Tennessee. The telecast of the 250-lap race began at 3 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown on ESPN Classic. Some NASCAR Countdown highlights:

Rookie Chase Austin is Just Second African-American to Make Busch Series Start

CHASE AUSTIN (to ESPN’s Shannon Spake) – "Qualifying’s not my strong suit, so watching those jet dryers go out and then going out first really wasn’t a good feeling for me. We lucked out and got it by six-hundredths of a second. My stomach was in knots after that, but I’m just glad we qualified and we’ve got a good car for the race."

The Chase: NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Live in Prime Time Saturday from Charlotte on ABC

October 8, 2007 -- The Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup continues Saturday, Oct. 13, with a prime-time night race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte. ESPN on ABC will have live coverage of the Bank of America 500 and all 10 races in the Chase. The Charlotte telecast begins at 7 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown.

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.