As Seen and Heard Saturday on ESPN’s NASCAR Countdown from the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Race at Bristol Motor Speedway presented by Pennzoil

Different Tune, Same Old Song: Bristol Motor Speedway Gets a Facelift

ESPN NASCAR PLAY BY PLAY ANNOUNCER DR. JERRY PUNCH - “What a match-up – The Car of Tomorrow vs. the concrete of today.”

ESPN NASCAR ANALYST TIM BREWER – “Right here at Bristol, we’ve built in a little bit of a bumper …. These guys right here, they bump and run, but with this bumper they’re going to have to hit these guys just a little bit harder. But this is Bristol. They’re going to hit, they’re going to beat, they’re going to bang and airbags are going to go off folks.”

Intensity Runs High Racing at Bristol

NASCAR DRIVER ROBBY GORDON - “Every time I’ve left Bristol, I’ve felt like I needed to go make 500 right-hand turns, so I can go back and at least go straight from that point because it is a long night.”

ESPN ANALYST AND NASCAR CUP CHAMPION RUSTY WALLACE - “You’re out there, you’re sweating. You’re angry. You’re temper’s getting up. You want to beat somebody up if you’re car’s not handling right. It really changes your whole entire mood after the race is over here at Bristol.”

NASCAR DRIVER DALE JARRETT – “It is the most physically demanding racetrack that we have. And along with that comes the mental toughness too. You put that together for 500 laps and it is the most difficult thing. And on top of that, you finish, and even if you’ve had a good night, you feel like you want to sit down and then you got to walk out of this place. You can’t even get a ride out of here. You’ve got to walk up the banking and out the gate.”

Locking into the Chase

NASCAR DRIVER TONY STEWART TO ESPN PIT REPORTER ALLEN BESTWICK – “The biggest thing for us, we want to get that win and try to get those extra 10 bonus points. I know enough to know that we got a really good shot at locking in tonight. The odds are really in our favor of making it in now; it’s just a matter of going out and trying to get the 10 extra bonus points each week.”

ESPN’s NASCAR Countdown, hosted by Suzy Kolber, had a live preview of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series on Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway. ESPN analyst and two-time championship winning crew chief Tim Brewer reported from ESPN’s DISH Tech Center.

About NASCAR on ESPN:
ESPN and ESPN on ABC will have 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 will be produced totally in High Definition. ESPN’s comprehensive, multimedia NASCAR coverage will extend 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.