Motorsports This Week on ESPN

The Chase Is On: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Live from Dover

The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship continues Sunday, Sept. 26, as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races for 400 miles at Dover (Del.) International Speedway and ESPN will have a live telecast presented by Burger King. The NASCAR Countdown pre-race show airs at noon ET on ESPN2 with the race telecast on ESPN at 1 p.m. The race’s green flag is at 1:15 p.m. ESPN2 will air NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying on Friday, Sept. 24, at 3 p.m.

ESPN2’s season-long coverage of the NASCAR Nationwide Series continues at Dover with a telecast of Saturday’s 200-mile race presented by CiCi’s Pizza. NASCAR Countdown airs at 3 p.m. with the race telecast at 3:30 p.m. The green flag flies at 3:45 p.m. Also from Dover, ESPN televises NASCAR Nationwide Series qualifying at 10:30 a.m. on race day and final practice at 1 p.m. on Friday.

Marty Reid will call the action with analysis by Dale Jarrett, the 1999 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, and two-time champion crew chief Andy Petree. Two-time champion crew chief Tim Brewer will report from the ESPN Craftsman Tech Garage, while pit reporters will be Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Dr. Jerry Punch and Vince Welch.

NASCAR Countdown from the ESPN pit studio will be hosted by Allen Bestwick with analysis by 1989 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion driver Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty, a team owner in the series. The studio team will interact with the booth during the telecast of the race.

Craven, Evernham, McGee on NASCAR Now Roundtable

NASCAR on ESPN analysts Ray Evernham and Ricky Craven will join ESPN the Magazine senior writer Ryan McGee as panelists on NASCAR Now’s weekly roundtable discussion program airing Monday, Sept. 27, at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2. Allen Bestwick will host the edition of ESPN2’s daily NASCAR news and information program.

Mike Massaro hosts half-hour episodes of NASCAR Now airing at 5 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday of this week and Friday at 4:30 p.m. NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Denny Hamlin, one of the drivers in the Chase, will be an in-studio guest on the Thursday edition of the program in addition to appearing on other ESPN platforms.

Massaro also hosts as NASCAR Now surrounds Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Dover with two episodes. The one-hour weekend edition of NASCAR Now presented by 5 Hour Energy airs at 9 a.m. with a preview of that day’s race, while the weekend wrap-up edition airs that night at 10 p.m. Nicole Briscoe and Angelique Chengelis will report from Dover while Craven will join Massaro in the studio.

NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series in Dallas

The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series races this weekend in the O’Reilly Super Star Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals at Texas Motorplex in Dallas and ESPN2 will air highlights of qualifying and eliminations. Qualifying action airs Sunday, Sept. 26, at 1 a.m. ET, and coverage of eliminations airs at 7 p.m.

Texas Motorplex is one of three all-concrete drag strips on the schedule (the first of its kind when it opened), which provide optimum traction and allow crew chiefs the opportunity to achieve national record performances. The event, which is the third chance for Countdown teams to earn points and is in 2010 celebrating its silver anniversary, takes place just a week after the Charlotte event, making for a long tow and a quick turnaround for the championship-hungry teams.

Paul Page anchors ESPN2’s coverage with analysis by 22-time NHRA winner Mike Dunn. Gary Gerould and Dave Rieff report from the pits. Rieff and Dunn host NHRA RaceDay presented by Lucas Oil on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. to set the stage for that day’s eliminations action.

Additional NHRA programming this week includes an hour with the NHRA Lucas Oil Sportsman Series from zMax Dragway near Charlotte, N.C., on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. On Saturday, drag racing fans can see 30 minutes of action featuring the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Modifieds from zMax Dragway at 10 a.m. on ESPN2.

ESPN.com Offers RacingLive! During Dover Race

NASCAR fans looking for an online gathering during ESPN’s telecasts of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series now have a place to go on ESPN.com.

RacingLive! on ESPN.com is a live blog where fans can engage in debate and discussion with ESPN.com writers and editors during the NASCAR Sprint Cup races. On Sunday, Sept. 26, RacingLive! Dover will kick off at 1 p.m. ET to coincide with ESPN’s telecast of the race at Dover International Speedway.

Fans can join ESPN.com’s NASCAR experts in dissecting every aspect of the race live at http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/.

ESPN Radio Raceday Airs Saturday, Sunday

Each weekend morning, ESPN Radio’s RaceDay starts its engines at 6 a.m. ET with host Pat Patterson anchored from Daytona Beach, Fla. Patterson also originates the broadcast from several racetracks with key races during the season. On both Saturday and Sunday mornings, ESPN Radio’s RaceDay listeners get an hour of news, previews and analysis, as well as profiles and interviews with NASCAR’s biggest names and newsmakers and the involvement of listeners via calls and e-mails.

Additionally, many of ESPN’s NASCAR reporters and analysts contribute each week as ESPN networks televise the entire NASCAR Nationwide Series and the final 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup races, including the 10-race “Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup" championship. A list of ESPN Radio affiliates can be found at www.espnradio.com.