Motorsports This Week on ESPN and ABC

IZOD IndyCar Series Season Kicks Off Live on ABC

The IZOD IndyCar Series begins its 2011 season Sunday, March 27, on the St. Petersburg, Fla., street circuit and ABC will have a live telecast of the event starting at 12:30 p.m. ET. The race is the first of five that will air on ABC this season, including the 100th Anniversary Indianapolis 500 on May 29.

The telecast from St. Petersburg will include 30 minutes of pre-race with the green flag at 1 p.m.

Marty Reid will anchor with former IndyCar winner Scott Goodyear providing analysis. Reporting from the pits will be Rick DeBruhl, Jamie Little and Vince Welch.

NASCAR Nationwide Series Live from California

ESPN continues its coverage of the NASCAR Nationwide Series with a live telecast of the 300-mile race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., on Saturday, March 26. The telecast is presented by CiCi’s Pizza and begins with NASCAR Countdown at 5 p.m. ET. The race’s green flag is at 5:46 p.m.

Allen Bestwick will call the action with analysis by Rusty Wallace, the 1989 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, Mike Massaro, Dr. Jerry Punch and Shannon Spake.

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

Schrader Joins Craven, McGee on NASCAR Now Roundtable

NASCAR driver Ken Schrader joins ESPN analyst Ricky Craven and ESPN the Magazine senior writer Ryan McGee as panelists on NASCAR Now’s weekly roundtable discussion program airing Monday, March 28, at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2. Allen Bestwick will host the edition of ESPN2’s daily NASCAR news and information program.

ESPN SportsCenter anchor Michelle Bonner guest-hosts half-hour episodes of NASCAR Now airing at 5 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, Friday at midnight (late Thursday night), and Saturday at 12:30 a.m. (late Friday night). Bonner also hosts NASCAR Now’s weekend edition Sunday at 11 a.m. with a preview of that day’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. Marty Smith and Shannon Spake will report from California with analyst Andy Petree.

ESPN.com Offers RacingLive! During California 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, March 27, RacingLive! California will kick off to coincide with the race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. 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 writer David Newton will be on-site at Bristol to report on the weekend’s action and news.

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.