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Fresh from his victory in the 50th Daytona 500, Ryan Newman will be on the set of NASCAR Now, ESPN’s daily NASCAR news and information program, when it airs Tuesday, Feb. 19, at 6 p.m. ET. Newman will discuss his victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup season opener with host Ryan Burr.
NASCAR Now features news, highlights, opinion, debate and analysis from drivers, crew chiefs and insiders both on and off the track. On Monday, Feb. 25, host Allen Bestwick will lead a panel discussion of the California Speedway weekend and other NASCAR news in a one-hour episode airing at 5:30 p.m. ET. |
Half-hour episodes air Tuesday through Friday of this week at 6 p.m., while a one-hour edition airs Sunday, Feb. 24, at 10 a.m. with the latest news from California Speedway.
NASCAR Now is hosted by Nicole Manske, Burr and Bestwick and originates from ESPN’s high definition studios in Bristol, Conn. Contributors include NASCAR Insiders Marty Smith and Angelique Chengelis, analysts Tim Brewer, Brad Daugherty, Boris Said and Tim Cowlishaw, ESPN.com reporters Terry Blount and David Newton and 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, Dale Jarrett, Dr. Jerry Punch, Andy Petree, Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Mike Massaro and Shannon Spake.
Ray Evernham, a successful team owner in NASCAR racing and a three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion crew chief, has joined ESPN’s NASCAR coverage team as an analyst.
Evernham, who made his debut last week from Daytona International Speedway, will appear on NASCAR Now, ESPN’s daily NASCAR news and information show, as part of a rotating panel of ESPN analysts for a weekly roundtable discussion in an expanded one-hour Monday edition of the program. The roundtable, hosted by ESPN’s Allen Bestwick, will discuss the latest NASCAR news and events.
Evernham, owner of Gillett Evernham Motorsports, also will make appearances via satellite on other editions of NASCAR Now. NASCAR Now airs weeknights at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
In addition to his duties with NASCAR Now, Evernham will work as an analyst in ESPN’s booth for live telecasts of NASCAR Nationwide Series races from Mexico City and Loudon, N.H. Evernham also will join ESPN’s pre-race NASCAR Countdown show for some races in 2008 and will appear from Daytona on NASCAR Now, SportsCenter and ESPNEWS.
“We are thrilled to further elevate our NASCAR telecasts with the addition of another former champion in Ray Evernham,” said Rich Feinberg, vice president, motorsports, ESPN production. “Our team already has a very deep bench and this only strengthens it.”
Evernham appeared on several NASCAR Nationwide Series telecasts in 2007 as a guest analyst on the pre-race program and also was featured in Race Wizard with Ray Evernham, a program that aired on ESPN2 in 2007. He previously appeared as an analyst on ESPN and ABC’s coverage of the IROC Series in 2000.
“ESPN is the leader in sports worldwide,” said Evernham. “Their expertise and credibility with the men and women around the world reinforces this position, and I am excited that NASCAR is such an integral part of their programming. I look forward to joining their team and sharing my knowledge and experience of the sport with the fans.”
Evernham, who raced Modifieds in his native New Jersey, rose to prominence in NASCAR after hanging up his helmet and becoming a crew chief. He won three NASCAR Cup championships and 47 races with Jeff Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports in the 1990s, and then started his own team to coincide with Dodge’s return to the top level of NASCAR racing in 2001. Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler and Patrick Carpentier now drive for the team’s three-car effort in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The team also participates in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
The 2008 NASCAR on FOX season got off to a strong start that Saturday night by notching a 5.1 household rating and a 9 share (8.5 million viewers) for the Budweiser Shootout from Daytona. Saturday’s 5.1/9 is a +6 percent gain over last year’s 4.8/9 for the Shootout, according to Nielsen Fast National ratings released today.
The Budweiser Shootout powered FOX to primetime wins for the night in both household rating and the Adults 18-49 demographic. Among all homes, FOX’s 5.1/9 for the Shootout scored a +19 percent win over second place NBC’s 4.3/8 and FOX’s 3.0 rating in Adults 18-49 was good for an impressive +30 percent win over ABC’s 2.3. The Shootout also saw ratings increases among Men 25-54 (+6 percent, 5.1 vs. 4.8) and Men 55+ (+8 percent, 5.6 vs. 5.2).
Viewing of the Budweiser Shootout peaked at a 6.1/11 from 10:00-10:10 PM ET as over 10 million viewers saw Dale Earnhardt Jr. take the checkered flag in his first outing in the No. 88 car for Hendrick Motorsports. This report came from Fox Sports.
ESPN2 continues its season-long coverage of the NASCAR Nationwide Series with live, flag-to-flag coverage of the 300-mile race from California Speedway in Fontana, Calif., this Saturday, Feb. 16, beginning at 7 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown. ESPN2 will be the home of the NASCAR Nationwide Series (formerly NASCAR Busch Series) all season, with selected races on ESPN and ABC.
Dr. Jerry Punch will be the lead announcer for ESPN2’s coverage, joined in the booth for analysis by 1999 NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Jarrett, one of the founding drivers of the NASCAR Nationwide Series, and two-time Cup Series champion crew chief Andy Petree. Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Mike Massaro and Shannon Spake will report from the pits, while two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion crew chief Tim Brewer will be in the ESPN DISH Tech Center.
Allen Bestwick will host NASCAR Countdown with analysis by 1989 NASCAR Cup Series champion Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty, a former winning team owner in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, in the ESPN pit studio.
Open wheel racing champion Michael Andretti, NASCAR legend Buddy Baker and perennial drag racing king John Force will lead a class of seven racing greats into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America when the organization stages its annual induction ceremony on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 at the Fillmore Detroit.
These three, along with sports car ace Richie Ginther, motorcycle hero Wayne Rainey, versatile competitor Paul Goldsmith and pioneering aerobatic pilot Betty Skelton will join 167 racers already enshrined in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.
Argentina and Chile will host the 2009 Dakar Rally after agreeing a deal with organizers of the Amaury Sport Organization. ASO accepted a joint-offer from the South American countries to stage the event, which will start in Buenos Aires on January 3 and cover over 9000km, 6000 of which will be timed special stages.
Despite starting in the city, most of the stage mileage will take place in neighboring Chile before the event returns to mainly in Chile, before returning to the Argentine capital 15 days later. Both countries have experience of hosting similar events as the Atacama and La Pampas rallies both form part of the FIA Cross-Country World Cup.
This year’s rally was cancelled 24 hours ahead of its scheduled start in January following the murders of four French tourists in Mauritania prompted the French foreign office to advise against travel into Mauritania, which was due to be traversed as part of the route to the Senegalese capital of Dakar.
“Signing-up priority will be given to the Dakar 2008 competitors,” said rally director Etienne Lavigne, referring to everybody that paid their registration fees, but never got to race on this year’s event.
The ASO announced last week announced a replacement rally for this year’s cancelled event. The Central European Rally will take place over six days in Hungary and Romania in April and run under the “Dakar Series” banner as a pre-cursor to a full championship in 2009. This all came from SportsBusiness.com.
Former race car driver, and one of only seven Americans to drive for Ferrari in Formula One, Bob Bondurant opened his School of High Performance Driving on Valentines Day 1968. The Bondurant School has instructed over 250,000 people in the last forty years. The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving continues to instruct thousands of people each year. Students range from NASCAR drivers and celebrities, to teens, women, and men. Among the roll call of Bondurant graduates:
Jimmie Johnson - NASCAR Driver and Sprint Series Cup Winner 2007/2006
Jeff Gordon - NASCAR Driver and four-time Cup Winner
Slash - Musician
Tom Cruise - Actor
Tim Allen - Actor
Walter Payton - Former NFL Player for the Chicago Bears
Peter Jennings - ABC News Anchor
From the Valvoline Track Talk Newsletter comes this jewel.
Yes, He REALLY Said-That Tommy Johnson Jr., on racing against his wife, Melanie Troxel, in Funny Cars.
“It’s every man for himself.”
A long time acquaintance, who is pretty savvy on what’s going on in racing, had this to say about last year. The dumbest move was Teresa Earnhart letting her stepson Dale, Jr. move to Hendrick Racing. The best move of 2007 was Bob and Gary Bahre selling NHIS for $340 million not to mention another $7 million for Bob’s fifty percent share of the now shuttered N. Wilkesboro Speedway in NC. The Bahre’s sold their track because Bob is pushing 81 years while Gary has health problems and had no interest in running the track by himself. On the Earnhardt thing, Junior turned in a great performance during Daytona Speed Weeks in spite of the problems that Hendrick Racing experienced in the biggest 14 days of the season.
Let’s check to see what’s on the tube this weekend for the racing crowd as we head into NASCAR’s second major events of the season. It gets underway on Friday at 12:30 p.m. with the Nationwide Series Practice on Speed from Fontana. At 3 p.m. Speed continues with the Sprint Cup Practice at 3 p.m. followed by NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at 4:30 p.m. Then Speed offers the Sprint Cup Qualifying at 6:30 p.m. followed by the Nationwide Final Practice at 8:30 p.m.
Saturday starts early at 11:30 a.m. with Speed offering more Sprint Cup Practice. Speed’s marathon continues with Nationwide Series Qualifying on Speed all from Fontana. Fox kicks in at 3 p.m. with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. At 7 p.m. ESPN2 offers the Nationwide Series Pre-Race at 7 p.m. while the race gets the green flag at 7:30 p.m. If your an NHRA fan stay up late to catch the Early Rounds at Phoenix at 2 p.m. NASCAR RaceDay airs at 1:30 p.m.
Sunday afternoon on Speed. Fox returns with the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at 3:30 p.m. Speed bounces back with the FIM SuperBike racing from Qatar at 5 p.m. while ESPN2 goes with the NHRA Finals from Phoenix at 7 p.m. (END)
NOTE: INFORMATION FOR THIS COLUMN CAME FROM VARIOUS REFERENCED SOURCES, PRESS RELEASES, NOTES AND OTHER SOURCES.
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Your aquaintance might want to rethink his position on Teresa Earnhardt. She was right to let him go . He and Kelley were determined to grab control of something that Dale SR didn’t intend for them to have . But the irony is that JR actually did worse in the Hendrick car than he usually does in the DEI car . So it looks like the failed power grab only netted him a move sideways , not up .
Margo, I can’t disagree with you more on Jr. As far as a sideways move goes it remains to be seen. He looked real good in the Bud Shootout because he won it. Also, he took one of the 125 Qualifiers. He appeared to be in the hunt in the 500 but given the way things go in that race he ended up getting schuffled out at the end. He’s also under a lot of pressure to perform in a front line car. The opinion of many is that he was not getting a front line car. You maybe right in the long run. However, so can I.