Motorsports This Week on ESPN

The NASCAR Nationwide Series holds its first-ever race at one of America’s most famous racing circuits this weekend and ESPN2 will have live coverage of the Bucyrus 200 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. The 4-mile road course is hosting its first NASCAR race on Saturday, June 19. NASCAR Countdown airs at 3 p.m. ET, while the race telecast starts at 3:30 p.m. with the green flag at 3:51 p.m. ESPN2 is the home of the series all season, with selected races airing on ESPN and ABC.

Allen Bestwick will be the lap-by-lap announcer for the race and also will host NASCAR Countdown. Analysts will be 1989 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Rusty Wallace and two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion crew chief Andy Petree. Pit reporters will be Jamie Little, Dr. Jerry Punch and Mike Massaro. Reports from two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion crew chief Tim Brewer will air from the ESPN Craftsman Tech Garage.

Evernham, Craven, LaJoie on NASCAR Now Roundtable

NASCAR on ESPN analysts Ray Evernham, Ricky Craven and Randy LaJoie will be panelists on NASCAR Now’s weekly roundtable discussion program airing Tuesday, June 22, at midnight ET (late Monday night) on ESPN2. Mike Massaro will host the edition of ESPN2’s daily NASCAR news and information program.

Shannon Spake hosts half-hour episodes of NASCAR Now airing Tuesday through Friday of this week at 5 p.m. There will not be a weekend edition on June 20 due to ESPN’s coverage of FIFA World Cup soccer.

NASCAR Now is hosted by Massaro, Nicole Briscoe, Allen Bestwick and 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, 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.

The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series races this weekend in the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn., and ESPN2 will air highlights of qualifying and eliminations. Qualifying action airs Saturday, June 19, at 7 p.m. ET, and coverage of eliminations airs Sunday at 4 p.m.

Bristol Dragway is known as “Thunder Valley" not only because it cuts a path between mountains but also because it can be home to incredible performances. The facility hosted NHRA’s Springnationals from 1965 to 1967 and non-NHRA events until it was closed in 1996 for an $18 million renovation. It reopened in 1999 and was the site of NHRA’s all-star event that year and in 2000 before hosting its first national event in 34 years in 2001. This year, the event moves from May to June and is the final chance for Pro Stock teams to earn points toward making the field for the K&N Horsepower Challenge.

Paul Page anchors ESPN2’s coverage with analysis by 22-time NHRA winner Mike Dunn. Gary Gerould and Dave Rieff report from the pits. Rieff and Dunn host NHRA RaceDay presented by Lucas Oil on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. to set the stage for that day’s eliminations action.

Also this weekend, ESPN2 airs highlights of the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event held recently in Englishtown, N.J. The Sportsman racers will be on ESPN2 on Saturday, June 19, at 2 p.m., right after 30 minutes of action with the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Modifieds at 1:30 p.m.