Motorsports This Week on ESPN and ABC

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Live from Charlotte in Prime Time Race on ABC

The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup continues this weekend as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races for 500 miles under the lights in prime time on Saturday night, Oct. 17, at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. ESPN’s live, flag-to-flag coverage of the NASCAR Banking 500 only for Bank of America will air on ABC. The telecast begins with NASCAR Countdown presented by Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen on DVD at 7 p.m. ET and the race’s green flag is at 7:41 p.m.

ESPN’s coverage of the final 11 races of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule airs on ABC, including all 10 races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. ESPN’s coverage from Lowe’s Motor Speedway also includes NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying on Thursday night, Oct. 15, at 7 p.m. and final practice on Friday, Oct. 16, at 6:30 p.m., both airing on ESPN2.

Dr. Jerry Punch will be lap-by-lap announcer for ESPN’s coverage, with analysis by 1999 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Dale Jarrett and two-time NASCAR champion crew chief Andy Petree . Reporting from the pits will be Dave Burns , Jamie Little , Shannon Spake and Vince Welch , with two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion crew chief Tim Brewer in the ESPN Craftsman Tech Garage.

Allen Bestwick will host the pre-race NASCAR Countdown program with analysis by 1989 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty , co-owner of a winning team in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, in the ESPN pit studio.

Also this week, ESPN Classic relives one of the great NASCAR races of the past with highlights of the 1990 ACDelco 500 at the former North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham, N.C., on Monday, Oct. 19, at 2 p.m.

Danica Patrick Special Airs Sunday on ESPN

A star of the Indianapolis 500 and the IndyCar Series since 2005, Danica Patrick may be making a move to NASCAR in 2010. Racing fans can learn more about the Roscoe, Ill., native in the Peak Performance Fast World of Danica Patrick, a 30-minute special program airing Sunday, Oct. 18, at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

The program is an in-depth look at Patrick during the recently-completed IndyCar Series season, as told by her, and examines her life away from the racetrack.

NASCAR Nationwide Series Live Under the Lights on ESPN2

ESPN2 continues its season-long coverage of the NASCAR Nationwide Series this weekend as the series races under the lights in prime time at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. The live, flag-to-flag telecast airs Friday, Oct. 16, at 7:30 p.m. ET, with the green flag at 8:16 p.m. ESPN2 is the home of the NASCAR Nationwide Series all season, with selected races on ESPN and ABC.

Also airing on ESPN2 will be coverage of NASCAR Nationwide Series final practice on Thursday, Oct. 15, at 6 p.m. and qualifying on Friday at 3 p.m.

Marty Reid will be lap-by-lap announcer for ESPN’s coverage, with analysis by 1999 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Dale Jarrett and two-time NASCAR champion crew chief Andy Petree . Reporting from the pits will be Dave Burns , Jamie Little , Shannon Spake and Vince Welch , with two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion crew chief Tim Brewer in the ESPN Craftsman Tech Garage.

Allen Bestwick will host the pre-race NASCAR Countdown program with analysis by 1989 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty , owner of a winning team in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, in the ESPN pit studio.

Live Coverage of NASCAR Hall of Fame Announcement Wednesday

ESPNEWS will have live coverage on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 4 p.m. ET as the first five inductees into the new NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C., are announced. NASCAR Chairman Brian France will reveal the names of the first five in a news conference at the Charlotte Convention Center adjacent to the site of the under-construction Hall of Fame.

NASCAR Now host Mike Massaro will host the telecast with ESPN NASCAR analyst Brad Daugherty. Following the news conference, more reports and analysis of the announcement will air on NASCAR Now at 5 p.m. on ESPN2.

Evernham, Craven, Smith on NASCAR Now Roundtable

NASCAR on ESPN analysts Ray Evernham and Ricky Craven and NASCAR Now lead reporter Marty Smith will be panelists on NASCAR Now’s weekly roundtable discussion program on Monday, Oct. 19, at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN2. Allen Bestwick will host the edition of ESPN2’s daily NASCAR news and information program.

Mike Massaro hosts half-hour episodes of NASCAR Now airing this week leading to the weekend races at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Episodes air at 5 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday, and at 5:30 p.m. Thursday prior to live coverage of NASCAR Nationwide Series final practice. Another episode airs at 6 p.m. Friday prior to that night’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race.

Massaro will be joined by Craven for the one-hour weekend edition that airs Saturday, Oct. 17, at 10 a.m. with a preview of that night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race. The weekend wrap-up edition airs at 12:15 a.m. Sunday (late Saturday night). Smith and Nicole Manske will report from the speedway for both programs. . 

NASCAR Now is hosted by Massaro, Bestwick and Manske and originates from ESPN’s high definition studios in Bristol, Conn. Contributors include NASCAR Insiders Marty Smith and Angelique Chengelis, analysts Ray Evernham, Tim Brewer, Brad Daugherty, Boris Said, Ricky Craven and Randy LaJoie, and ESPN.com reporters Ed Hinton, Terry Blount and David Newton. The NASCAR on ESPN team event coverage team of Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett, Dr. Jerry Punch, Andy Petree, Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Spake and Vince Welch also make frequent contributions to NASCAR Now.

NHRA Programming Airs on ESPN Classic

Drag racing fans will have three hours of programming airing Monday, Oct. 19, on ESPN Classic. Highlights include the 2004 O’Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals from Memphis, Tenn., at noon ET.

Two hours of action on ESPN Classic will feature the NHRA Lucas Oil Sportsman Series. Racing from Indianapolis will air at 1 p.m., with action from Pomona, Calif., airing at 6 p.m.

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