Motorsports This week on SPEED

NASCAR RACE HUB: The Hub (Mondays thru Thursdays at 7 p.m. ET) gets everyone in the festive Halloween mood early in the week, welcoming a long list of guests that includes four-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday discussing his Martinsville win, his expectations for Talladega and the uncertainty of his 2011 season on Tuesday; Bob Dillner with the latest on the Richard Petty Motorsports situation, as well as the possibility of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing switching to Ford in 2011; and the talk about a new crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Also on Tuesday, Danielle Trotta chats with Steve Letarte at Hendrick Motorsports; Ray Dunlap goes on a guided tour of the brand-new Kyle Busch Motorsports shop before stopping by the Hub to offer analysis; and Jimmy Spencer hands out his infamous “crying towel."

The Hub on Wednesday welcomes Kevin Harvick with a look-back to his Talladega win in the spring and his team’s repeat hopes; a live report from Talladega on Thursday; and a rundown of the top-five moments in Talladega history, among other topics and live guests.

For more show information, please visit http://www.speedtv.com/programs/nascar-race-hub/.

TRUCKS IN TALLADEGA: The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series roars into the most nerve-wracking track on the circuit this Halloween weekend. SPEED’s live coverage of all on-track activity from Talladega begins Friday at 10 a.m. ET with presentation of Truck Series final practice session, followed by live qualifying at 4:30 p.m. ET. SPEED kicks off its expanded edition of NCWTS Setup with Krista Voda, the popular pre-race show, Saturday at 3 p.m. ET, followed by live race coverage at 4 p.m. ET. Rick Allen, Phil Parsons and Michael Waltrip will call the action from the booth with pit road reporting by Adam Alexander and Ray Dunlap. After being forever immortalized as characters from “The Wizard of Oz" and “Batman," what costume theme will the Truck Series crew choose this weekend?

According to Nielsen Media Research, ratings for last Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race from Martinsville were up 41 percent year-to-year, with live race coverage on SPEED scoring a .69 (536,000 households) against last year’s .49 (365,000 households). The race, won by Ron Hornaday Jr., peaked at a .89 (690,000 households), up 53 percent from last year’s peak of .58 (429,000 households).

After early season postponements at Daytona (rain) and Gateway (electrical) put the series in a ratings hole, the Trucks continue to build momentum with viewers, scoring increases in six of the last nine events (Pocono up 78%, Darlington up 19%, Bristol up 3%, Kentucky 115% and Las Vegas 17%). Since July, NCWTS ratings are up 12 percent year-to-year.

TRACKSIDE: Krista Voda, Larry McReynolds, Jeff Hammond, Elliott Sadler and Rutledge Wood welcome Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards to Friday’s show from Talladega.

Trackside on Friday airs at 7 p.m. ET.

TRACKSIDE SPECIAL EDITION: Larry McReynolds, Jeff Hammond, Elliott Sadler and Rutledge Wood return Saturday night with host John Roberts from Talladega with a live special edition of Trackside. Their “trick or treater" is Kevin Harvick, defending Talladega winner.

DAVE DESPAIN ON ASSIGNMENT: TALLADEGA: Dave Despain On Assignment: Talladega, the third in a series of SPEED historical perspectives, takes an in-depth look at the effort that surrounded building the mammoth superspeedway and the drama that filled the first race weekend. Interviews include Richard Petty, Bobby and Donnie Allison, Richard Childress, Richard Brickhouse, Ray Fox, Jim Vandiver, Tom Higgins, Jim Foster and Humpy Wheeler. The special airs Friday at 12:30 p.m. ET.

THE RACING CHEF: Chef Nicky Morse opts for more than Halloween candy this weekend when he cooks up chicken parmigiana with Joey Logano, enjoys Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage’s fish tacos and is treated to banana bread French toast by a race fan at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Additionally, Chef Nicky stops by Arthur Bryant’s, a world-famous BBQ joint in Kansas City. The Racing Chef airs Saturday at 11 a.m. ET.

WORLD OF OUTLAWS: SPEED offers coverage of the World of Outlaws Modified race from the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.

MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: SPEED offers live coverage of MotoGP World Championship from Portugal Sunday at 9 a.m. ET, followed by same-day coverage of MotoGP Moto2 from Portugal at 6 p.m. ET.