Motorsports This Week on ESPN

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Live from Pocono on ESPN

The unique, triangular shape of Pennsylvania’s Pocono Raceway always presents a challenge to NASCAR teams, and ESPN will have live, flag-to-flag coverage of the 500-mile NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Pocono, telecast presented by Cheez-It, on Sunday, August 3, at 1 p.m. ET. Pocono is the second of 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup events on the ESPN networks to close out the 2008 NASCAR season, with the first six on ESPN and the final 11 on ABC, including all 10 races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Coverage from Pocono Raceway includes a live telecast of NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying on Friday, Aug. 1, at 3:30 p.m., and coverage of practice sessions from 10 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 2, all on ESPN2. All programming also airs in high definition and is simulcast on ESPN MobileTV. The race replays on Monday, Aug. 4, at 1 p.m. on ESPN Classic.

Dr. Jerry Punch will be lead announcer for ESPN’s coverage, joined in the booth for analysis by 1999 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Dale Jarrett and two-time champion crew chief Andy Petree. Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Mike Massaro and Shannon Spake will be pit reporters with two-time champion crew chief Tim Brewer in the ESPN Tech Center.

The pre-race NASCAR Countdown show from the ESPN pit studio will be hosted by Allen Bestwick, with 1989 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Rusty Wallace and analyst Brad Daugherty. The studio team will interact with the booth during the telecast of the race.

NASCAR Nationwide Series Live from Montreal on ESPN2

The NASCAR Nationwide Series goes north of the border this weekend for its second annual event in Montreal at the famed Circuit Giles Villeneuve, and ESPN2 will have live coverage on Saturday, Aug. 2, beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown. The telecast also airs in high definition on ESPN2 HD, and is simulcast on ESPNMobileTV and ESPN Deportes.

Lead announcer for ESPN2 will be Marty Reid, with analysis by 1989 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Rusty Wallace and two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Randy LaJoie. Jack Arute, Mike Massaro and Vince Welch will report from the pits. Massaro also hosts NASCAR Countdown.

ESPN2 also airs coverage of qualifying for the event at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, and coverage of final practice on Friday at 2 p.m.

ESPN Pit Reporters in NASCAR Now Monday Roundtable Discussion

The Monday, Aug. 4, edition of NASCAR Now, ESPN2’s daily NASCAR news and information show, at 5 p.m. ET will include host Allen Bestwick leading a roundtable discussion of the latest NASCAR news and races. Panel members for the show will be ESPN pit reporters Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Mike Massaro and Shannon Spake. A half-hour episode of NASCAR Now airs Tuesday, July 29, at 5:30 p.m., with the Wednesday and Thursday editions at 5 p.m. On Friday, Aug. 1, the program airs at 6 p.m. following NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying from Pocono.

Two editions of NASCAR Now, both one hour in length, air Sunday, Aug. 3. The program airs at 10 a.m. with a preview of that day’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Pocono, while the weekend wrap-up edition airs at 10 p.m.

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 Ed Hinton, Terry Blount and David Newton and D.J. Copp, a member of the Petty Enterprises 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.

Austin Dillon Featured on ESPN2’s Driven to Hunt Sunday

Austin Dillon, grandson of NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series team owner Richard Childress and a rising NASCAR driver, will be featured on an episode of the ESPN2 series Driven to Hunt on Sunday, August 2, at 7 a.m. ET. The program repeats at 9:30 a.m. Dillon takes time out of his racing schedule to whitetail hunt in South Texas.

Each week, Driven to Hunt will invite a prominent NASCAR personality on a once-in-a-lifetime hunt. From drivers to team owners to the over-the-wall gang, hunting is what they dream about. Guests this season include drivers Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Terry and Bobby Labonte and Kerry Earnhardt, and NASCAR team owner Richard Childress.

NHRA Lucas Oil Sportsman Series Action Airs Sunday

The NHRA Lucas Oil Sportsman Series, the developmental series for NHRA drag racing, will be on ESPN2 on Sunday, Aug. 3, at 11 a.m. The program will feature action from the recent Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.

NHRA Fans Can Relive Events on ESPN Classic

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 of this week, and Monday of next week.

On Tuesday, July 29, fans can watch the action of the 2003 Checkers-Schuck’s-Kragen NHRA Nationals from Phoenix, while Wednesday’s program features the Mac Tools NHRA Gatornationals from Gainesville, Fla. The NHRA Summitracing.com Nationals at Las Vegas air Thursday with the NHRA O’Reilly Sprint Nationals from Houston airing Friday. On Monday, Aug. 4, NHRA fans can watch the 2003 Mac Tools Thunder Valley NHRA Nationals.

ESPN2 is the home for the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series and the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series.