NASCAR Busch Series

NASCAR Busch Series Awards Banquet on ESPN2 Tuesday

December 10, 2007 -- Fans of the NASCAR Busch Series can see Carl Edwards honored as the 2007 series champion when ESPN2 televises highlights of the series awards banquet from Orlando, Fla., Tuesday, Dec. 11, at 7 p.m. ET.

NASCAR on ESPN personalities Allen Bestwick and Shannon Spake co-host the awards banquet, which takes on a “talk show” atmosphere. Musical guest John Ondrasik (Five for Fighting) and comedian John Pinette also perform.

ESPN2 was the home of the NASCAR Busch Series in 2007 and will be so again in 2008 as the series is re-named the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

The Chase Concludes: NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Live from Miami on ABC

November 12, 2007 -- The Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup concludes this weekend with the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and ESPN on ABC will have live coverage of the event Sunday, Nov. 18, at 3 p.m. ET beginning with NASCAR Countdown. Jimmie Johnson will be going for his fifth consecutive race win as he tries to hold off Jeff Gordon for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup title.

Brent Musburger will host ESPN’s coverage, while Dr. Jerry Punch will handle play-by-play for the race telecast. Analysts will be 1989 NASCAR Cup champion Rusty Wallace and two-time NASCAR champion crew chief Andy Petree.

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 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.

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

The Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup is on ABC

October 16, 2007 -- Q&A with Rusty Wallace on racing at Martinsville Speedway:

Q - Aside from the expected beating and banging how hard is Martinsville Speedway on the car itself?

“At Martinsville Speedway you’ll see a lot of brake problems, and next is the rear-end gear. You turn so many RPMs that the rear-end gear ratio heats up real fast. It’s such a short track and you have to get up to speed real fast.

“Tempers, brakes and rear-end gears, those are the three things that can fail at Martinsville. On top of that, the fenders get beat in, the sides of the doors get beat up and tire marks end up all over the car.”

Q – How hard is the 500-lap race at Martinsville on a driver?