Motorsports This Week on ESPN and ABC

NASCAR Nationwide Series Live from St. Louis in Prime Time

The NASCAR Nationwide Series races in prime time at Gateway International Raceway near St. Louis on Saturday night, July 17, and ESPN2 will have a live telecast in high definition. NASCAR Countdown airs at 7 p.m. ET, while the race telecast starts at 8 p.m. with the green flag at 8:15 p.m. ESPN2 is the home of the series all season, with selected races airing on ESPN and ABC.

Also from Gateway, ESPN2 will air coverage of NASCAR Nationwide Series qualifying on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.

Dave Burns will be the lap-by-lap announcer, joined in the booth for analysis by 1989 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Rusty Wallace and former Sprint Cup race winner Ricky Craven. Pit reporters will be Mike Massaro, Dr. Jerry Punch and Shannon Spake while reports from two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion crew chief Tim Brewer will originate from the ESPN Craftsman Tech Garage.

Reporter Roundtable on NASCAR Now

The panel on NASCAR Now’s weekly roundtable discussion program will take on a different look on Monday, July 19, at 5 p.m. ET as three journalists who regularly cover NASCAR racing sit down with host Mike Massaro. NASCAR Now is ESPN2’s daily NASCAR news and information program.

Nate Ryan, motorsports writer for USA Today, will join Bob Pockrass, writer for SceneDaily.com and ESPN.com NASCAR writer David Newton as they discuss and debate the latest NASCAR news in the week leading to the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the kickoff to ESPN’s coverage of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for the final 17 races of the season.

Half-hour episodes of NASCAR Now air Tuesday and Wednesday of this week at 5 p.m. and Friday at midnight (late Thursday night) with Ryan Burr hosting.

NASCAR Now is hosted by Mike Massaro, Nicole Briscoe, Allen Bestwick and Shannon Spake and originates from ESPN’s high definition studios in Bristol, Conn. Contributors include reporters Marty Smith and Angelique Chengelis, analysts Ray Evernham, Tim Brewer, Brad Daugherty, and Ricky Craven, ESPN.com reporters Ed Hinton, Terry Blount and David Newton and ESPN the Magazine senior writer Ryan McGee. The NASCAR on ESPN team event coverage team of Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett, Marty Reid, Dr. Jerry Punch, Andy Petree, Dave Burns, Jamie Little, and Vince Welch also make frequent contributions to NASCAR Now.

ESPN Classic Goes Back to 1998 Brickyard 400

With ESPN set to kick off its coverage of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with a live telecast of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 25, ESPN Classic is helping NASCAR fans get ready for the big event by re-airing some previous editions of the Brickyard 400.

Highlights of the 1998 Brickyard 400 from Indianapolis will air on ESPN Classic on Monday, July 19, at 2 p.m. ET.

NASCAR fans can enjoy a Brickyard Marathon on ESPN Classic starting on Friday night, July 23, and running through the night. The 1995 edition opens the marathon at 8 p.m., followed at 10 p.m. by the 2008 race. Highlights from the 2009 and 2007 races follow, with the inaugural Brickyard 400 from 1994 airing at 4 a.m. on Saturday, July 24.

IZOD IndyCar Series Live on ABC from Toronto

The IZOD IndyCar Series goes north of the border to Canada’s largest city this weekend with its annual race on the Toronto street racing circuit at Exhibition Place. ABC will have a live telecast of the race on Sunday, July 18, at 12:30 p.m. ET. Marty Reid will call the action on the telecast with analysis from former IndyCar star Scott Goodyear. Reporting from the pits will be Rick DeBruhl, Jamie Little and Vince Welch,

The event is the final of five races in the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season to be produced by ESPN and air on ABC.

NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series in Sonoma

The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series continues its annual Western Swing this weekend with the Fram-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., and ESPN2 will air highlights of qualifying and eliminations. Qualifying action airs Saturday, July 17, at 11 p.m. ET, and coverage of eliminations airs Sunday at 6 p.m.

In the heart of Northern California’s high-tech region, the facility annually plays host to some of the tour’s most dramatic moments. A $70 million modernization project was completed in 2002 that included a new 660-foot concrete launch pad and led to scores of new track records. The event is usually blessed with pleasant weather that, combined with a quality racetrack, has yielded impressive performances, such as the sport’s second six-second Pro Stock Motorcycle pass in 2005. This year, the event is the middle leg of the Western Swing.

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 1 p.m. to set the stage for that day’s eliminations action.

Also this weekend, ESPN2 airs highlights of the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at Pacific Raceways near Seattle on Saturday, July 17, at 6 p.m.