Race fans will have the opportunity to watch two classic NASCAR Sprint Cup races this week on ESPN Classic. The 1996 Tyson Holly Farms 400 from North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway airs Thursday, May 15, at 2 p.m. ET, while the 1992 Save Mart 300 at California’s Infineon Raceway airs Friday, May 16, at 3 a.m. Both races originally aired live on ESPN. Also airing on ESPN Classic this week is an episode of the award-winning ESPN program SportsCentury featuring NASCAR star Jeff Gordon. The show airs Thursday at 9 a.m.
Some of the most dramatic moments in the history of the Indianapolis 500 have occurred on Bump Day, the final opportunity for drivers to “bump” their way into the 33-car starting field for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. ABC and ESPN2 will have live coverage Sunday, May 18. Bump Day presented by GoDaddy.com airs from 1-3 p.m. ET on ABC, and coverage shifts to ESPN2 from 5-6:30 p.m.
ESPN2 also will be live at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for coverage of the third day of Indianapolis 500 time trials Saturday, May 17, at 4 p.m. With the second day of qualifying rained out this past weekend, the 2.5-mile track will be busy Saturday as positions 12-33 in the field are filled. The Indianapolis 500 airs live on ABC Sunday, May 25, at noon.
Marty Reid anchors coverage, joined for analysis by former Indy Car Series star Scott Goodyear and 1998 Indy 500 winner Eddie Cheever. Jack Arute, Brienne Pedigo and Vince Welch will report from the pits.
The Monday, May 19, edition of NASCAR Now will expand to an hour and will include host Allen Bestwick leading a roundtable discussion with ESPN analysts and reporters of the weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup All-Star Race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway as well as other NASCAR news. The program airs at 5:30 p.m.
Half-hour episodes of NASCAR Now air Tuesday through Thursday of this week at 6 p.m., while the one-hour weekend edition airs Saturday at 10 a.m. with a preview of that night’s All-Star race.
NASCAR Now is hosted by Ryan Burr, Nicole Manske and Bestwick 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 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.
ESPN2 airs coverage of the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series stop at Bristol (Tenn.) Dragway weekend with action from the O’Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. Qualifying coverage airs Saturday, May 17, at 6:30 p.m. ET, with eliminations and finals coverage airing Sunday at 6:30 p.m. A replay of finals airs Monday at 11 a.m. on ESPN Classic.
Bristol Dragway opened in 1965, and after the 1997 season, the facility was closed and underwent an $18 million renovation. The facility re-opened in 1999 and hosted the NHRA All-Star event in 1999 and 2000. The Thunder Valley Nationals event started in 2001.
Paul Page anchors ESPN2�s coverage, with analysis by 22-time NHRA winner Mike Dunn. Gary Gerould and Dave Rieff report from the pits. Rieff and Dunn will also co-host NHRA RaceDay to set the stage for Sunday’s finals action. The 30-minute program airs Sunday at 11 a.m. on ESPN2.
Fans of the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series will have opportunities all week to relive some of the great events of the 2003 season as ESPN Classic opens the archives and brings the events back to life on TV. The programs air at 11 a.m. ET Tuesday through Friday.
On Tuesday, May 13, fans can watch the action of the 2003 Fram-Autolite NHRA Nationals from Sonoma, Calif., while Wednesday’s program features the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals from Brainerd, Minn. The Carquest Auto Parts NHRA Nationals from Joliet, Ill., air Thursday with the O’Reilly Fall Nationals from Dallas airing Friday.
ESPN2 and ESPN Classic are the homes for lovers of automotive and classic car auction programs, and viewers will have the opportunity this week to see multiple hours of programming. ESPN Classic will air 14 episodes of Mothers Car Show back-to-back Saturday, May 17, starting at 1 p.m. ET. The marathon continues until 8 p.m.
Episodes of Russo and Steele Classic Car Auction air Sunday, May 18, at 11:30 a.m. on ESPN2, and then later that day at 3 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. on ESPN. ESPN airs an episode of Autotrader.com DRIVE! In HD Sunday at 2 p.m. An episode of RM Classic Car Auctions airs Tuesday, May 13, at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN Classic.
The popular New York TV and radio personality Funkmaster Flex, who opens each episode with “music is my life but cars are my passion.” Flex oversees a competition involving amateur car customizers and the real-life drama associated with the contest. The contestants put everything on the line to win. Back-to-back episodes air Saturday, May 17, beginning at 9 a.m.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standout Carl Edwards will once again join the SPEED announce crew during the broadcast of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race XXIV (May 17; 7 p.m. E.T.) live and in high definition from Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.
Edwards, who has also co-hosted SPEED’s The Chase is On with Steve Byrnes the previous two seasons, will reprise his role as a pit road reporter during the preliminary NASCAR Sprint All-Star Showdown. Last year, he just missed the All-Star Race when he finished third in the Showdown, opening an opportunity for SPEED to use Edward’s off-track talents to cover the All-Star Race nightcap.
The Columbia, Mo. native has won three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races this season, and is among those already qualified for this year’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race XXIV.
Edwards will join Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum and Dick Berggren on pit road, while Krista Voda and Jeff Hammonds will host SPEED’s Sprint All-Star Race coverage. Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds will be calling the race from the broadcast booth.
The 25th Anniversary Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprint Season (ESS) Opener from Black Rock Speedway, in Dundee, N.Y., held on April 12, will be the first episode of Hot Wings TV (HWTV) shown on Time Warner Cable SportsNet Channel 26 in the Greater Rochester Area.
The exciting event that saw Justin Barger just nip Bryan Howland at the finish will showcase some of the best winged sprint car racing that fans can see. The 60-minute, live-to-tape format, features all of the aspects of the race night, including hot laps, heat races, dash, B-Main and the 25-lap A-Main. At least 10 interviews are also conducted throughout the night, to help soak in every second of the dirt-flinging action.
Black Rock, and Dundee as a whole, is dissected throughout the program, with focus on the track, the area, and the heritage that surrounds the popular Yates County dirt track oval run by the Hoag family.
Hot Wings TV is a great tutorial into the inner workings of the sprint car-racing world, while still providing plenty of racing action for the enthusiast. Hosted by veteran broadcaster and good friend to ESS in Doug Elkins, Hot Wings TV is easy to follow from the comfort of your living room. Rich Vleck and Greg Birosh, Black Rock’s Announcing Team, provides expert commentary to detail the night of racing with Greg serving as Pit Reporter.
Along with the great main camera shots throughout the night from ESS’ own videographer Michael Ellis, Bob Miller and the Zak Fremouw, the Blizzard Performance on-board camera was strapped to the No. 45 of Chuck Hebing, as he wheeled around the 4/10-mile clay oval on the first night of the year. Hebing will give the fans plenty of on screen action with is stout fourth place finish and spirited duals with two-time ESS champion Lance Yonge and ESS veteran Doug Emery.
The first airing in the Rochester Area was this past Sunday May 11. Replays will be available Tuesday May 13 at 5:30 p.m., Thursday May 15 at 11 p.m. and Sunday May 18 at 5 p.m. Any cable customer that receives Rochester programming should be able to watch any of the airings.
Syracuse’s Time Warner Cable SportsNet is also expected to air this first edition of HWTV in 2008, but the dates have yet to be finalized. It is important to note that those times are unlikely to coincide with Rochester’s airings.
Yes, He REALLY Said That-Kyle Busch, on Steve Wallace, after their last-lap Nationwide Series race incident at Richmond. “He’s a boy trying to play in a man’s sport.” This came from the Valvoline Track Talk Newsletter.
Let’s see what else is on TV this busy weekend. On Friday Speed has CTS Practice at Lowe’s at 9 a.m. with Sprint Cup Practice going at noon then CTS Qualifying at 3:30 p.m. with the CTS race going off at 8 p.m. On Saturday Speed offers RaceDay at 4 p.m. and the All-Star race at 7 p.m. TSN, by the way, will air that race in Canada. On Sunday Speed offers the AMA Superbikes from Sonoma at 10:30 a.m. followed by the Grand-Am from Laguna Seca at noon. Then the ALMS event from Tooele, UT at 3 p.m. HDNet kicks in at 5 p.m. offering the NASCAR East-West Series race from Iowa. Speed comes back at 6 p.m. with the FIM MotoGP from LeMans, France and a 10 p.m. airing of the AMA Superbike go from Sonoma, CA. (END)
NOTE: INFORMATION FOR THIS COLUMN CAME FROM VARIOUS REFERENCED SOURCES, PRESS RELEASES, NOTES AND OTHER SOURCES.
Pontiac Trans am
