SportsCenter To Follow NASCAR Championship Contenders All Week

With the revised Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship having determined the four drivers who have a chance to win what will be the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship for each, ESPN SportsCenter will follow the four contenders all week as they prepare for Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the final race of the season.

The four finalists are Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and Ryan Newman. Though all drive for multi-car race teams, the four finalists represent four different race teams and three different manufacturers. The driver among the four who finishes highest in Sunday’s race, no matter where he finishes overall in the 43-car field for the event, will be the new champion.

ESPN reporters will be embedded with the championship contenders early this week, with SportsCenter airing multiple live reports from the four contending race shops between 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. ET each day on Monday and Tuesday. The 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. editions of SportsCenter will air larger all-access features from each team, summarizing what the teams did on those days to prepare for the championship race.

The Wednesday night editions of SportsCenter will air interviews and reports from that evening’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship contender’s press conference in Miami, including the four drivers and their team owners, while Thursday’s SportsCenter reports will follow work back at the race shops and what the drivers are doing in South Florida before on-track action begins Friday.

Dave Burns will follow Logano from the Penske Racing headquarters, while Ryan McGee will report on Hamlin from Joe Gibbs Racing. Mike Massaro will report on Newman from Richard Childress Racing and Marty Smith will be with Harvick and Stewart-Haas Racing.

ESPN NASCAR analyst Ricky Craven will appear on SportsCenter frequently throughout race weekend, including during extended post-race coverage Sunday that will feature an interview with the new NASCAR Sprint Cup champion.

Sunday’s 400-mile race airs live on ESPN. A special two-hour edition of NASCAR Countdown at 1 p.m. will lead up to the 3:16 p.m. green flag. All four championship contenders will appear live on Countdown from the ESPN Pit Studio, and the program also will include extended “the week that was" features on all four.

The champion will visit ESPN on Wednesday, Nov. 19, and appear on a variety of ESPN programs and platforms.