ESPN to Follow NASCAR Championship Contenders Closely in Sunday’s Finale
The race-within-the-race will be the story of the event as the contender who finishes highest in the race will be the new champion, no matter where he finishes overall in the 43-car field. The Championship Four survived three elimination rounds over nine races in the new-format Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, which started with 16 drivers.
To help ensure that nothing involving the contenders on the track is missed, each will have a tower camera assigned to follow only them during the race, and the cars of all four will be equipped with onboard cameras. In addition, each contending team will have a robotic overhead camera in its pit stall to document pit stops. ESPN also will have a graphic below the scoring ticker across the top of the screen to show where all four are running at all times during the race.
On Sunday, each of the contenders will visit the ESPN Pit Studio during a special two-hour NASCAR Countdown at 1 p.m. that will precede the race's 3:15 p.m. green flag. Also, ESPN2 will televise NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying on Friday at 6 p.m.
"It's been exciting for us to bring the races in the new format of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup to our viewers, and we're especially looking forward to history being made in Sunday's championship race as the entire season comes down to the wire in one race," said John Skipper, ESPN president.