Motorsports This Week on ESPN

NASCAR Nationwide Series Live from Talladega on ABC

The NASCAR Nationwide Series races at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway this weekend and ABC will have a live, flag-to-flag telecast of the Aaron’s 312 on Saturday, April 24. NASCAR Countdown presented by Hellman’s airs at 2:30 p.m. ET, while the race telecast starts at 3 p.m. with the green flag at 3:19 p.m. ESPN2 is the home of the series all season, with selected races airing on ESPN and ABC.

Marty Reid will be the lap-by-lap announcer, joined in the booth for analysis by 1999 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Dale Jarrett and two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion crew chief Andy Petree. Pit reporters will be Dave Burns, Mike Massaro, Dr. Jerry Punch and Shannon Spake. Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion crew chief Tim Brewer will report from the ESPN Craftsman Tech Garage.

Allen Bestwick will host NASCAR Countdown from the ESPN pit studio, with analysis by Jarrett and Brad Daugherty, a team owner in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Jarrett, Petree, Evernham on NASCAR Now Roundtable

NASCAR on ESPN analysts Dale Jarrett, Andy Petree and Ray Evernham will be panelists on NASCAR Now’s weekly roundtable discussion program on Monday, April 26, at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2. Allen Bestwick will host the edition of ESPN2’s daily NASCAR news and information program.

Nicole Briscoe hosts half-hour episodes of NASCAR Now airing Tuesday and Wednesday of this week at 5 p.m. and Friday at 1 a.m. (late Thursday night, delayed due to ESPN’s coverage of the NFL Draft). Briscoe also hosts the one-hour weekend edition that airs Sunday, April 25, at 9 a.m. with a preview of that day’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway. Marty Smith and Shannon Spake will report from Texas, joined by analyst Rusty Wallace.

NASCAR Now is hosted by Massaro, Briscoe and Allen Bestwick and originates from ESPN’s high definition studios in Bristol, Conn. Contributors include reporters Marty Smith, Shannon Spake and Angelique Chengelis, analysts Ray Evernham, Tim Brewer, Brad Daugherty, Ricky Craven and Randy LaJoie, and ESPN.com reporters Ed Hinton, Terry Blount and David Newton. 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 Classic Takes NASCAR Fans Back to 1989

NASCAR fans will have the opportunity to watch one of the great races of the past when ESPN Classic shows highlights from the 1989 Budweiser 500 at Dover International Speedway on Monday April 26, at noon ET.

The 1-mile, high-banked Dover track is now known for its concrete racing surface, but the 1989 race was contested while the track was still paved with traditional asphalt. Dale Earnhardt, Mark Martin, Ken Schrader, Terry Labonte and Rusty Wallace are among the NASCAR stars of the day in action.

NHRA Sportsman Action on ESPN2

Drag racing fans can watch an hour of action featuring the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series on Sunday, April 25, at 10 a.m. ET on ESPN2. The programs will include highlights of the Sportsman cars and drivers from the recent event in Las Vegas.