Motorsports This Week on ESPN and ABC

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Live from Kansas on ABC
The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup continues this weekend as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races for 400 miles on Sunday, Oct. 4, at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan. ESPN’s live, flag-to-flag coverage of the race will air on ABC. The telecast begins with NASCAR Countdown at 1 p.m. ET and the race’s green flag is at 2:15 p.m.

Spin’s coverage of the final 11 races of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule will air on ABC, including all 10 races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. ESPN’s coverage from Kansas includes NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying on Friday, Oct. 2, at 4:30 p.m. and a same-day telecast of NASCAR Sprint Cup final practice on Saturday, Oct. 3, at 6:30 p.m., both 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.

NASCAR Nationwide Series Live from Kansas on ESPN2

ESPN2 continues its season-long coverage of the NASCAR Nationwide Series this weekend as the series races at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan. The live, flag-to-flag telecast airs Saturday, Oct. 3, at 3 p.m. ET, with the green flag at 3:46 p.m. ESPN2 is the home of the NASCAR Nationwide Series all season, with selected races on ESPN and ABC.

Coverage of NASCAR Nationwide Series final practice airs Friday, Oct. 2, at 6 p.m. on ESPN2.

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.

Evernham, Said, Craven on NASCAR Now Roundtable

NASCAR on ESPN analysts Ray Evernham, Boris Said and Ricky Craven will be panelists on NASCAR Now’s weekly roundtable discussion program on Monday, Oct. 5, 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 Tuesday through Thursday of this week at 5 p.m. and Friday at 7 p.m. following ESPN2’s coverage of NASCAR Nationwide Series final practice at Kansas Speedway.

Massaro will be joined by Said for the one-hour weekend edition that airs Sunday, Oct. 4, at 10 a.m. with a preview of that day’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Kansas. The weekend wrap-up edition airs at 10 p.m. Sunday. Nicole Manske and Terry Blount will report from Kansas 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.

Countdown to 1 Continues in NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing

The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series continues its Countdown to 1 playoffs as the series visits Memphis Motorsports Park for the O’Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals this weekend. ESPN2 will air qualifying and eliminations action, with qualifying airing Saturday, Oct. 3, at 10:30 p.m. ET. Eliminations action airs Sunday, Oct. 4, at 7 p.m., with a re-air Monday, Oct. 5, at 5 p.m. on ESPN Classic.

The tour’s annual stop in “the birthplace of the Blues" is being contested for the third straight season in what should be cooler climes from its previous late-August date. For the teams still in the Countdown to the Championship for NHRA Full Throttle world titles, this is the halfway point of the Countdown to 1, the third of six events that will determine the world champions.

Paul Page anchors ESPN2’s coverage with analysis by 22-time NHRA winner Mike Dunn. Gary Gerould, Dave Rieff and John Kernan report from the pits. Rieff and Dunn host NHRA RaceDay on Sunday at 11 a.m. to set the stage for that day’s eliminations action.

Other NHRA programming airing on ESPN Networks this week includes highlights from the 2004 Pontiac Excitement NHRA Nationals in Columbus, Ohio, airing Monday, Oct. 5, at 3 p.m. on ESPN Classic. In addition, action from the recent Lucas Oil Sportsman Series event in Dallas airs Sunday, Oct. 4, at 6 p.m. on ESPN2.

Traxxas TORC Series Action on ESPN2 Sunday

Action from the Traxxas TORC Series presented by AMSOIL returns to ESPN2 on Sunday, Oct. 4, at 11:30 a.m. ET with highlights of the event held in Perris, Calif. The premier short-course racing series with the top stars in off-road racing, this exciting form of door-to-door action is appearing on both ESPN2 and ABC this season.

The 2009 season features eight total rounds of racing. ESPN2 will air five rounds with three to appear on ABC. Marty Reid, lap-by-lap announcer for ESPN on ABC's coverage of the Indianapolis 500 and selected NASCAR races, will call all of the Traxxas TORC Truck Series events on ESPN2 and ABC. Joining Reid will be long-time extreme sports announcer Tes Sewell and former Miss USA Kimberly Pressler as pit reporter.