Saturday RaceDay Gets Green Flag

ESPN Radio will pull a new, two-hour NASCAR show into its Saturday morning programming garage on September 30 when Saturday RaceDay starts its engine at 7 a.m. ET. The debut coincides with the third of the final 10 races of the 2006 season — the “Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup" – then NASCAR Now will remain a weekly, year-round show.

Pat Patterson will serve as host for Saturday RaceDay, usually anchoring from Daytona Beach, Fla., home of NASCAR headquarters and Daytona International Speedway where two of NASCAR’s biggest events – February’s Daytona 500 and the Pepsi 400 on July 4 weekend – are run. Patterson will also broadcast from the tracks of key races several times each season.

ESPN Radio’s Saturday RaceDay listeners can expect a news-filled opening hour, previewing that weekend’s NASCAR races, and analyzing the previous week’s news and results. The 8-9 a.m. hour will be more personality “driven," providing profiles and interviews with NASCAR’s biggest names and newsmakers, and involving listeners via calls and e-mails.

Additionally, ESPN’s NASCAR reporters and analysts (ESPN and ABC Sports begin NASCAR race coverage in February with the entire Busch series, and in July with the second half of the NASCAR Nextel Cup series), including Rusty Wallace, Dr. Jerry Punch and Mike Massaro, will contribute each week.

Saturday RaceDay host Patterson, also known as "The Racing Guy," has been involved in motor sports for more than 25 years. He hosted and produced television shows RaceDay on TNN and the nationally syndicated On Pit Road, while his radio experience includes more than 20 years of calling the action on pit road for the Performance Racing Network (PRN). Patterson was named "Sprint Car Media Person of the Year" (1992, 93, 94), received the Specialty Promotions Award from Open Wheel/Stock car Racing Magazine (1993), and was elected to the Automotive Hall of Fame Board of Directors in 1997.