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NASCAR Now, ESPN’s daily NASCAR news and information program, returns to the air for its second season Monday, Feb. 4, at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN2. The program includes highlights, opinion, debate, analysis and the latest news from drivers, crew chiefs and insiders both on and off the track. The program airs for 30 minutes at 6 p.m. Monday through Friday of the opening week, and the Monday edition will expand to one hour beginning Monday, Feb. 11. The show also has a one-hour edition at 10 a.m. on the morning of each NASCAR Sprint Cup race and a Sunday night weekend wrap-up edition.

NASCAR Now is hosted by Nicole Manske, Ryan Burr and Allen Bestwick and originates from ESPN’s high definition studios in Bristol, Conn. Contributors include analysts Tim Brewer, Brad Daugherty, Boris Said and Tim Cowlishaw, along with NASCAR insiders Terry Blount, Angelique Chengelis, David Newton and Marty Smith, as well as D.J. Copp, a member of Bobby Labonte’s NASCAR team.

NASCAR Now viewers also benefit from frequent contributions by the NASCAR on ESPN team including Rusty Wallace, Dr. Jerry Punch, Andy Petree, Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Mike Massaro, Shannon Spake, Dale Jarrett and ESPN Deportes’ NASCAR commentators Andrés Agulla and Alex Pombo.

ESPN’s 2008 NASCAR season begins Saturday, Feb. 16, at noon with coverage of the NASCAR Nationwide Series Camping World 300 at Daytona International Speedway on ESPN2.

Drag racing fans will be able to watch more finals action in prime time this season as the schedule for ESPN2’s coverage of the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series includes finals telecasts from 21 of 24 events in the 8-11 p.m. ET viewing time.

ESPN2’s eighth consecutive season of exclusive NHRA coverage blasts off Feb. 9-10 with the 48th annual CARQUEST Auto Parts Winternationals from Pomona, Calif. ESPN2 will have coverage of qualifying and finals rounds from all 24 events in the series, with expanded coverage from drag racing’s biggest event, the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. All coverage is produced in high definition. The NHRA’s “Countdown to the Championship” begins with the newly added event at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte Sep. 13-14.

Veteran motorsports announcer Paul Page, who joined ESPN2’s drag racing coverage in 2006, returns to the anchor seat for the 2008 season. Page has been a familiar face and voice to race fans since 1974 and served as lead announcer for the Indianapolis 500 on either radio or TV for more than 25 years.

Joining Page in the booth for expert analysis will be former drag racer Mike Dunn, a 22-time winner in NHRA competition and one of only three drivers to have scored more than 10 wins in both the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes. Dunn has been ESPN’s drag racing analyst since 2002.

Gary Gerould and Dave Rieff return as pit reporters for the full season, with motorsports television veteran John Kernan joining them for selected events.

Rieff and Dunn continue as hosts of NHRA Race Day, a news and information program airing on Sunday morning of all 24 NHRA POWERade event weekends on ESPN2. NHRA Race Day sets up the day for fans at home with must-see matchups, interviews with stars of the sport, driver features, news and analysis, a review of qualifying and what to look for during the finals action. The show originates from NHRA’s Nitro Alley, allowing fans attending the race to watch and participate in the show.

NHRA coverage also airs on ESPN Deportes, ESPN’s domestic Spanish-language network, and is distributed internationally by ESPN International. Rieff also anchors coverage of the NHRA’s Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series on ESPN2 in 2008.

2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series TV Schedule on ESPN2
(All times Eastern)

Feb. 9 Pomona Qualifying 8-10 p.m.
Feb. 10 Pomona Finals 7:30-11 p.m.
Feb. 24 Phoenix Qualifying 2-3:30 a.m.
Feb. 24 Phoenix Qualifying (re-air) 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Feb. 24 Phoenix Finals 7-10 p.m.
March 16 Gainesville Qualifying 1-3 a.m.
March 16 Gainesville Finals 6-9 p.m.
March 29 Houston Qualifying 4:30-5 p.m.
March 29 Houston Qualifying 10-11 p.m.
March 30 Houston Qualifying (re-air) 1:30-2:30 a.m.
March 30 Houston Finals 4:30-7 p.m.
April 12 Las Vegas Qualifying 8-10 p.m.
April 13 Las Vegas Finals 8-11 p.m.
April 26 Atlanta Qualifying 6-8 p.m.
April 27 Atlanta Finals 7-10 p.m.
May 3 St. Louis Qualifying 9-11 p.m.
May 4 St. Louis Finals 7-10 p.m.
May 17 Bristol Qualifying 6:30-8:30 p.m.
May 18 Bristol Finals 6:30-10 p.m.
May 31 Topeka Qualifying 5:30-7:30 p.m.
June 1 Topeka Finals 4-7 p.m.
June 7 Chicago Qualifying 5-7 p.m.
June 8 Chicago Finals 5-7 p.m.
June 21 Englishtown Qualifying 11:30 p.m. – 1:30 a.m.
June 22 Englishtown Finals 7-10 p.m.
June 28 Norwalk Qualifying 10 p.m. – midnight
June 29 Norwalk Finals 7-10 p.m.
July 12 Denver Qualifying 10 p.m. – midnight
July 13 Denver Finals 8-11 p.m.
July 19 Seattle Qualifying 8-9 p.m.
July 20 Seattle Qualifying (re-air) TBD
July 20 Seattle Finals 9 p.m. – midnight
July 26 Sonoma Qualifying 6-7:30 p.m.
July 27 Sonoma Finals 7-10 p.m.
Aug. 9 Brainerd Qualifying 8:30-10:30 p.m.
Aug. 10 Brainerd Finals 7-10 p.m.
Aug. 16 Reading Qualifying 6-8 p.m.
Aug. 17 Reading Finals 10 p.m. – 1 a.m.
Aug. 31 Indianapolis Qualifying 12:30-1:30 a.m.
Aug. 31 Indianapolis Qualifying 12-3 p.m.
Aug. 31 Indianapolis Qualifying 6-7 p.m.
Sept. 1 Indianapolis Finals 12-2 p.m.
Sept. 1 Indianapolis Finals 7-10 p.m.
Sept. 13 Charlotte Qualifying 10 p.m. – midnight
Sept. 14 Charlotte Finals 7-10 p.m.
Sept. 20 Dallas Qualifying 10 p.m. – midnight
Sept. 21 Dallas Finals 7-10 p.m.
Sept. 27 Memphis Qualifying 10 p.m. – midnight
Sept. 28 Memphis Finals 7-10 p.m.
Oct. 12 Richmond Qualifying Midnight – 1 a.m.
Oct. 12 Richmond Finals 7-10 p.m.
Nov. 1 Las Vegas Qualifying 10 p.m. – midnight
Nov. 2 Las Vegas Finals 7-10 p.m.
Nov. 15 Pomona Qualifying 10:30 p.m. – 12:30 a.m.
Nov. 16 Pomona Finals 8-11 p.m.

The Outdoor Channel will televise one of America’s biggest new short track races, the 3rd Annual MOPAR PRI Sprint & Midget Classic Presented by DHL, nationally over three Mondays in February.

Produced by Masters Entertainment, of Bristol, TN, the three 30-minute episodes will reach a potential audience of 31 million cable and satellite subscribers.

All first-time shows air at 4 p.m. Eastern time; 1 p.m. Pacific. The first episode airs on Monday, February 11; the second episode airs on Monday, February 18; and the third episode airs on Monday, February 25.

The 3rd Annual MOPAR PRI Sprint & Midget Classic Presented by DHL took place December 7, 2007, at Orlando Speed World, as part of the PRI Trade Show, which was held that week at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL. It’s the world’s largest racing trade show.

“After producing the event for two years, we felt like it was absolutely necessary to expand it to one-and-one-half hours of coverage,” said Butch McCall, executive vice president and general manager of Masters Entertainment. “You have a jam-packed, fast-paced, exciting event, and it took all three 30-minute episodes to truly get it all in.” Each nationally telecast episode of the race will also be repeated twice, so the total package equals nine cablecasts.

The 2nd Annual Ocean City Collector Car Auction Event is back again this year! The auction is to be held Saturday and Sunday, February 9th and 10th at the Ocean City Convention Center. The event launched last year by Express Auctioneers, a Baltimore Maryland Firm And Special Events Productions, Inc. The company sponsors Annual Car Shows in Ocean City for Crusin’ and Hot Rod and Custom Car Show.

Team head Tadashi Yamashina said in Toyota’s annual motorsports report he had been given two more years to get the team on the winning track, but Motorsports president John Howett told Autosport magazine that Yamashina was merely stating his personal position and the company remained committed to the sport. “In Barcelona in 2006, we signed a non-binding agreement with the other manufacturers to stay in F1 until at least 2012,” Howett said.
The team has not finished higher than second place in an F1 race since Toyota began its sponsorship in 2002.

Open the gates, and they will come. That’s certainly the case at Daytona Int’l Speedway where the 45th annual ARCA 200 at Daytona is taking shape as the most competitive in ARCA RE/MAX Series history. Entries are pouring in for event, which is LIVE on SPEED this Saturday afternoon, February 9th at 4 p.m. ET.

At present, 74 entries make up the current entry list, which includes a healthy combination of Driver Development teams mixed in with some very solid series regulars.

Entries from the Driver Development teams include one from car owner Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who is listed as the car owner for rookie driver Landon Cassill in the no. 88 Stanley-Vidmar-Proto Chevrolet. It marks the first time that Earnhardt, Jr. has participated in the ARCA RE/MAX Series as a car owner.

Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) has filed an entry with the 2007 Indy 500 winner and Indy Car Series champion Dario Franchitti in the driver’s seat. CGRFS announced Franchitti has signed a multi-year deal with the organization to compete in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2008.

HD Partners Acquisition Corporation has failed to acquire the world’s largest drag racing organization, the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), according to SportBusiness.com.

The corporation announced that it had not received the required number of votes to finalize the transaction, which would have allowed it to acquire all of NHRA’s professional racing assets, including the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing series and a broad set of rights to commercialize the NHRA brand.

Eddy Hartenstein, chairman and chief executive officer of HD Partners, said: “We are very disappointed with today’s vote, given our collective enthusiasm for NHRA and the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. Unfortunately, in the time since we first announced this transaction in May of 2007, we have witnessed a dramatic shift in both the financial markets and the perceived strength of the U.S. economy, which we believe adversely impacted the final outcome of this transaction.” The NHRA will continue to operate as it has in the past and has no current plans to pursue a similar opportunity in the near future. Back a few years ago, Bruton Smith of Speedway Motorsports, Inc. wanted to buy the NHRA and it never materialized.

This also came from SportsBusiness.com. FOCA President Bernie Ecclestone reiterated his call for the UK government to support the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Ecclestone said that most Grands Prix now were supported by their national governments and that this kind of support is what Silverstone needs if it is to remain on the Formula One circuit.

Speaking at a business breakfast, for Norwood, a leading UK charity supporting children and families living with disability and social difficulties, Ecclestone said that Silverstone needed to raise the standard of facilities and help drive the image of Formula One. “It would be nice if we could point to Silverstone and say we had the best in the world.” Bernie’s financial success has been built on his hard-nosed dealings with local and national governments that give him money derived from taxes. There’s lots of resentment by taxpayers when a sports franchise attempts to get their money. However, that doesn’t seem to bother old Bernie at all. If I were a taxpayer in the UK, I’d resent the fact that he’s putting the pressure on the government. Because the Brits are among those that are highly taxed in Europe.

Reflecting on his Formula One career, Ecclestone said his most important act had been to co-ordinate the TV rights for the sport. “Before the TV stations just did what they wanted, showed the races they wanted. We came in, organized the TV, told the broadcasters to carry every race and that the host country would produce a global signal and suddenly we got enormous audiences.”

Now let’s see what’s going on in terms of racing action this weekend as the 2008 season starts to pick up momentum. It all gets underway on Friday at 4 p.m. with Speed offering Bud Shootout Practice from Daytona and again at 6 p.m. Saturday has NASCAR Sprint Cup Practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Practice for the Gatorade Duel from Daytona at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Speed. Stick with Speed as that channel comes back at 4 p.m. with the ARCA RE/MAX Series opener from Daytona. Fox kicks in the with Bud Shootout from that same track at 8 p.m. ESPN2 offers NHRA Qualifying at 8 p.m. from Pomona, CA. Fox returns on Sunday with Daytona 500 Qualifying at 1 p.m. while ESPN2 returns with the NHRA Eliminations from Pomona at 7:30 p.m. (end)

NOTE: INFORMATION FOR THIS COLUMN CAME FROM VARIOUS REFERENCED SOURCES, PRESS RELEASES, NOTES AND OTHER SOURCES.