Six TV Markets Shift NASCAR Off ABC Due To NFL Exhibitions
Six TV markets will see Saturday night's NASCAR Sprint Cup Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway "on alternate channels, due to NFL preseason games." The race will air on ABC in most markets, but it will instead be shown on ESPN instead in Buffalo, N.Y.; Quincy, Ill.; Tulsa, Okla.; and Weslaco, Texas. Detroit's WXYZ-ABC "will show the race telecast to its digital tier 2 channel and then join the race in progress" after Lions-Raiders. In Rochester, WHAM-ABC "will move the race telecast to its digital tier 2 channel." ESPN.com
08/22/12 NASCAR fans in six affected markets will be able to watch ABC's telecast of Saturday night's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway on alternate channels through arrangements made by the local ABC affiliates. The ABC affiliates in the six markets will be airing NFL preseason games Saturday night rather than the NASCAR race but with the alternate channels in each market, the race telecast will still be available nationwide. ABC's coverage begins with NASCAR Countdown at 7:00pm/et.
In four of the affected markets, the race telecast will air on ESPN, including Buffalo, Tulsa, Weslaco, Tex., and Quincy, Ill.
In Detroit, ABC affiliate WXYZ-TV will move the race telecast to its digital tier 2 channel and then join the race in progress when the Detroit Lions preseason game ends.
In Rochester, N.Y., ABC affiliate WHAM-TV will move the race telecast to its digital tier 2 channel.
ABC affiliates in Little Rock, Ark., Corpus Christi, Tex., and Omaha, Neb., will pre-empt NASCAR Countdown at 7:00pm/et for local news but will join the ABC telecast at 7:30pm/et. The race's green flag is scheduled for 7:43 pm/et. ESPN