Motorsports This Week on ESPN and ABC
Indianapolis 500 on ABC for 50th Year
The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, the Indianapolis 500, will air on ABC for the 50th consecutive year when the field of 33 Verizon IndyCar Series drivers races at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 98th time on Sunday, May 25. Pre-race airs at 11 a.m. ET and the green flag will wave at 12:12 p.m. The telecast also will air on Watch ABC. Viewers will have the option of a second screen experience with live feeds of onboard cameras from many of the cars available on ESPN3, ESPN’s live, multi-screen sports network. ESPN3 is accessible online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app and streamed on televisions through ESPN on Xbox LIVE to Gold members, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Roku.
Announcers:
Booth: Lap-by-Lap announcer: Allen Bestwick; analysts Scott Goodyear, Eddie Cheever.
Pit reporters: Rick DeBruhl, Jamie Little, Dr. Jerry Punch, Vince Welch.
Host: Lindsay Czarniak
Additional Indianapolis 500 Programming
ESPN Classic will air a marathon of Indianapolis 500-related programming in the week leading up to the race, including airings of highlights of many past races from the 1960s through 2013. Also, three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves will be at ESPN on Tuesday, May 20, and will appear on multiple ESPN platforms including SportsCenter.
NASCAR Nationwide Series at Charlotte Live on ABC
The NASCAR Nationwide Series races in the History 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 24, and ABC will have a live telecast. NASCAR Countdown airs at 2:30 p.m. ET with the green flag at 3:01 p.m. Also from Charlotte, ESPN2 will televise qualifying at 10:30 a.m. on race day. The race telecast also will air live in Canada on TSN and will air in Spanish on ESPN Deportes on May 25 at 4 a.m.
Announcers:
Booth: Lap-by-Lap announcer Dave Burns; analysts Dale Jarrett, Andy Petree.
Pit reporters: Jim Noble, Mike Massaro, Shannon Spake.
NHRA Topeka Event on ESPN2, ESPN3
The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series moves to Heartland Park Topeka for the Lucas Oil NHRA Kansas Nationals and ESPN2 and ESPN3 will air qualifying and eliminations action May 23-25. All NHRA programming on ESPN networks is available on computers, smartphones, tablets, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire TV via WatchESPN, accessible to fans who receive ESPN’s linear networks as part of their video subscription from an affiliate provider. The schedule:
Date | Time | Event | Network |
Friday, May 23 | 8 p.m. | Qualifying (live) | ESPN3, WatchESPN |
Saturday, May 24 | 6 p.m. | Qualifying | ESPN2, WatchESPN |
Sunday, May 25 | Noon | Eliminations (live) | ESPN3, WatchESPN |
Sunday, May 25 | 10 p.m. | Eliminations | ESPN2, WatchESPN |
Announcers:
Booth: Dave Rieff (anchor); Mike Dunn (analyst)
Pit reporters: Gary Gerould, Jamie Howe, John Kernan.
NASCAR Now schedule
This week’s schedule for ESPN2’s NASCAR news and information program NASCAR Now:
Date | Time | Show | Host | Network |
Tues., May 20 | 2:30 a.m. | NASCAR Now | Ryan McGee | ESPN2, WatchESPN |
Wed., May 21 | 2:30 a.m. | NASCAR Now | Ryan McGee | ESPN2, WatchESPN |
Thu., May 22 | 2:30 a.m. | NASCAR Now | Ryan McGee | ESPN2, WatchESPN |
Motorsports on Other ESPN Platforms
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, May 25, RacingLive! Charlotte will coincide with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor 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.com also will continue its extensive coverage of the May 25 Indianapolis 500 throughout the week and on the day of the race.