SPEED to Cover NASCAR Practice Beginning Jan. 7

Before all of the holiday decorations have been put away and the last fruit cake has been re-gifted, SPEED will be setting up shop in Daytona, Charlotte, Las Vegas and Fontana to bring NASCAR fans 22 days of testing coverage as part of NASCAR Preseason Thunder beginning Jan. 7.

“This season opens with quite a few questions to be answered," said SPEED President Hunter Nickell. “There will be a lot of interest in seeing NASCAR back on the track for the first time in ’08 … Dale Jr. in a Hendrick car, Kyle Busch in a Gibbs car, the COT at every track, new title sponsors … there is no shortage of storylines for 2008 and SPEED will be there from the very beginning … we’ll be there all season … and we’ll be there at the end. NASCAR fans have come to expect that from SPEED and our team will deliver."

Testing coverage will be comprehensive as SPEED will cover sessions for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the NASCAR Nationwide Series and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. In addition, for the first time, SPEED will offer multiple shows from the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Media Tour, hosted by Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

John Roberts will anchor SPEED’s NASCAR Sprint Cup coverage on-site, with assistance from Larry McReynolds, Jeff Hammond and Bob Dillner. Roberts also will host NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series session, with analysis from Ray Dunlap and Phil Parsons, and Nationwide Series testing, with Dunlap providing analysis. The full NASCAR on SPEED on-air team will participate in the 30-minute shows throughout the month, both on-site and from the Charlotte-based SPEED studios.

NASCAR Preseason Thunder on SPEED schedule (All times ET; subject to change):

NASCAR Sprint Cup Testing from Daytona – Jan. 7-10 (7 p.m.)
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Testing from Daytona – Jan. 11 (7 p.m.)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Testing from Daytona – Jan. 14-17 (6:30 p.m.)
NASCAR Nationwide Series Testing from Daytona – Jan. 21-22 (7 p.m.)
2008 NASCAR Sprint Media Tour – Jan. 23-25 (7 p.m.)
NASCAR Testing from Las Vegas – Jan. 28-30 (7 p.m.)
NASCAR Testing from Fontana – Jan. 31-Feb. 1 (7 p.m.)
NASCAR 2008 Team Previews – Feb. 4-6 (7 p.m.)

Following coverage of NASCAR Preseason Thunder, SPEED will make the much-anticipated move to HD for 100 hours of coverage from Daytona Speedweeks beginning Feb. 7. In addition, SPEEDtv.com will re-launch in widescreen format Feb. 6.