Motorsports This Week on ESPN and ABC

NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series Live in Prime Time from Richmond

With final seedings in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup on the line, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races for 400 laps in prime time under the lights at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday night, Sept. 11, and ABC will have a live telecast. The NASCAR Countdown pre-race show kicks off the evening at 7 p.m. ET with the race telecast at 7:30 p.m. The race’s green flag is at 7:46 p.m.

The NASCAR Nationwide Series also races under the lights at Richmond this weekend and season-long coverage on the ESPN networks continues. The race airs on ESPN2 beginning with NASCAR Countdown at 7 p.m. on Friday night, Sept. 10, with the race telecast at 7:30 p.m. and the green flag at 7:46 p.m.

Also from Richmond, ESPN2 will be on the air most of the afternoon and early evening with NASCAR Sprint Cup practice at noon and qualifying at 5:30 p.m., and NASCAR Nationwide Series qualifying at 4 p.m.

Marty Reid will call the action with analysis by Dale Jarrett, the 1999 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, Jamie Little, Dr. Jerry Punch and Vince Welch.

NASCAR Countdown from the ESPN pit studio will be hosted by Allen Bestwick with analysis by 1989 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion driver Rusty Wallace, three-time champion crew chief Ray Evernham and Brad Daugherty, a team owner in the series. The studio team will interact with the booth during the telecast of the race.

Jarrett, Petree, Evernham on NASCAR Now Roundtable

13, at the special time of 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2. Allen Bestwick will host the edition of ESPN2’s daily NASCAR news and information program.

Mike Massaro hosts half-hour episodes of NASCAR Now airing late night this week due to ESPN’s coverage of U.S. Open tennis from New York. Programs air Wednesday, Sept. 8, at midnight (Late Tuesday night); Thursday, Sept. 9, at 1 a.m. (late Wednesday night); and Friday, Sept. 10, at 1 a.m. (late Thursday night).

NASCAR Now will surround this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Richmond International Raceway with two episodes Friday and episodes Saturday and Sunday, with Massaro hosting all. The program will have the latest news from Richmond with a half-hour report on Friday at 3:30 p.m., followed by ESPN2’s telecast of NASCAR Nationwide Series qualifying. Another half-hour report airs at 5 p.m. followed by NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying.

The one-hour weekend edition of NASCAR Now presented by 5 Hour Energy airs Saturday, Sept. 11, at 9 a.m. with a preview of that night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Richmond. The weekend wrap-up edition airs Sunday, Sept. 12, at 12:30 p.m. (late Saturday night). Marty Smith and Shannon Spake will report from Richmond while analyst Ricky Craven will join Massaro in the studio.

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.com Offers RacingLive! During Richmond 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 Saturday night, Sept. 11, RacingLive! Richmond will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET to coincide with ESPN on ABC’s telecast of the race at Richmond International Raceway.

Fans can join ESPN.com’s NASCAR experts in dissecting every aspect of the race live at http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/.

NHRA Lucas Oil Series Action Airs Sunday

ET on Sunday, Sept. 12, on ESPN2.