Motorsports This Week on ESPN
NASCAR Season Finales Live on ESPN from Homestead
The 2012 NASCAR season comes to an end this weekend and ESPN will have live telecasts of the season finale races for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 17-18, from Homestead-Miami Speedway in South Florida. Brad Keselowski will try to hold off five-time champion Jimmie Johnson to win his first Sprint Cup title. Coverage of Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race begins with an extended NASCAR Countdown at 1:30 p.m. with the green flag at 3:15 p.m. Saturday’s Ford EcoBoost 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race has NASCAR Countdown at 4 p.m. and the green flag at 4:45 p.m. Also from Homestead, ESPN2 will air NASCAR Sprint Cup practice on Friday, Nov. 16, at 1:30 p.m. followed at 3 p.m. by NASCAR Nationwide Series practice. All NASCAR programming on ESPN and ESPN2 is also available on computers, smartphones and tablets with the WatchESPN app and WatchESPN.com.
The schedule:
| Date | Time | Event | Network |
| Fri., Nov. 16 | 1:30 p.m. | NASCAR Sprint Cup practice | ESPN2, WatchESPN |
| 3 p.m. | NASCAR Nationwide Series practice | ESPN2, WatchESPN | |
| Sat., Nov. 17 | 4 p.m. | NASCAR Countdown | ESPN, WatchESPN |
| 4:30 p.m. | Ford EcoBoost 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race | ESPN. WatchESPN | |
| Sun., Nov. 18 | 1:30 p.m. | NASCAR Countdown | ESPN, WatchESPN |
| – | 3 p.m. | Ford EcoBoost 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race | ESPN, WatchESPN |
Announcers:
Booth: Lap-by-Lap announcer Allen Bestwick (Sprint Cup); Marty Reid (Nationwide); analysts Dale Jarrett, Andy Petree.
Pit reporters: Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Dr. Jerry Punch, Vince Welch.
NASCAR Countdown: Nicole Briscoe (host); Rusty Wallace, Ray Evernham, Brad Daugherty (analysts).
NASCAR Now Schedule
ESPN2’s daily NASCAR news and information program NASCAR Now will preview the final race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the one-hour edition airing Sunday, Nov. 18, at 9 a.m. ET, and Brad Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson battle to determine the Sprint Cup champion. Host Mike Massaro will be joined in the studio by ESPN NASCAR analyst Ricky Craven with reporters Marty Smith and Shannon Spake at the track. Massaro and Craven will review the race Sunday night at 10:30 p.m. with more on Monday’s show at 2:30 p.m., including an in-studio appearance by the new NASCAR Sprint Cup champion. A special edition of NASCAR Now on Thursday, Nov. 15, at noon on ESPNEWS will bring viewers the championship contenders’ media event from Miami.
Spake (Keselowski) and Smith (Johnson) will be embedded with the two championship contenders all week for SportsCenter. Spake will report from Keselowski’s race shop on Tuesday, while Smith will be at Johnson’s shop on Wednesday.
The schedule:
| Date | Time | Show | Host | Network |
| Wed., Nov. 14 | 2 p.m. | NASCAR Now | Mike Massaro | ESPN2, WatchESPN |
| Thu., Nov. 15 | Noon | NASCAR Now | Mike Massaro | ESPNEWS |
| Thu., Nov. 15 | 3 p.m. | NASCAR Now | Mike Massaro | ESPN2, WatchESPN |
| Fri., Nov. 16 | 4:30 p.m. | NASCAR Now | Mike Massaro | ESPN2, WatchESPN |
| Sun., Nov. 18 | 9 a.m. | NASCAR Now | Mike Massaro | ESPN2, WatchESPN |
| Sun., Nov. 18 | 10:30 p.m. | NASCAR Now | Mike Massaro | ESPN2, WatchESPN |
| Mon., Nov. 19 | 2:30 p.m. | NASCAR Now | Mike Massaro | ESPN2, WatchESPN |
ESPN Classic to Air NASCAR Marathon Nov. 13-16
The ESPN Classic network will help NASCAR fans get ready for the season-ending weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a marathon of NASCAR-related programming Tuesday-Friday, Nov. 13-16. The programming will include airings of highlights from the last five Homestead races as well as other NASCAR-related shows. The schedule:
Date
| Tue., Nov 13 | 9:30 a.m. | Top 5 Reasons You Can’t Blame Hardcore NASCAR Fans for Hating Jeff Gordon |
| – | 10 a.m. | SportsCentury: Richard Petty |
| Wed., Nov. 14 | 9:30 a.m. | Schaap One-on-One: Richard Petty |
| 10 a.m. | SportsCentury: Dale Earnhardt Jr. | |
| Thu., Nov. 15 | 9 a.m. | Top 5 Reasons You Can’t Blame Hardcore NASCAR Fans for Hating Jeff Gordon |
| – | 9:30 a.m. | SportsCentury: Jeff Gordon |
| – | 10 a.m. | SportsCentury: Tony Stewart |
| – | 11 a.m. | 2011 Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway |
| – | 1 p.m. | 2007 Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway |
| – | 3 p.m. | 2008 Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway |
| – | 5 p.m. | 2009 Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway |
| Fri., Nov. 16 | 7 a.m. | SportsCentury: Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
| – | 8 a.m. | SportsCentury: Dale Earnhardt |
| – | 9 a.m. | 2010 Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway |
| – | 11 a.m. | 2011 Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway |
NHRA Lucas Oil, Thrills & Spills Air Sunday
The season is over for the NHRA but drag racing fans can watch a one-hour compilation of action from the 2012 season in NHRA Thrills and Spills airing Sunday, Nov. 18, at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN2. The program follows one hour of racing highlights from the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at Pomona, Calif., which airs at 1 p.m.
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, Nov. 18, RacingLive! Homestead will coincide with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami 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 motorsports writers Ed Hinton and David Newton will report from Homestead.
ESPN Radio — Each weekend morning, ESPN Radio’s RaceDay starts its engines at 6 a.m. ET with host Pat Patterson anchored from the site of that weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race. 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.