NASCAR on NBC & TNT Begins Sixth Season This Weekend: As the green flag drops on the NASCAR Nextel Cup season, NBC and TNT have the next two weeks of racing covered from Daytona International Speedway, including exclusive live coverage of the Great American Race, the Daytona 500 on NBC. Live coverage begins this Saturday with TNT’s broadcast of the Budweiser Shootout preceded by the “Bank of America Countdown to Green” pre-race show at 8pm/et. NBC presents Daytona Bud Pole Qualifying at 12noon/et Sunday. NBC will broadcast the 48th annual Daytona 500 live on Sunday, Feb. 19, with coverage beginning at 2:30pm/et, preceded and followed by coverage of the Torino Winter Olympics. The Daytona 500 is one of the most-watched sporting events of the year. The 2004 Daytona 500 was watched by 33.5 million viewers and posted a 10.6/24 national rating. In 2002, NBC’s inaugural Daytona 500 set a record with 35 million viewers and a 10.9/26 national rating during the middle Sunday of NBC’s coverage of the Salt Lake Olympics [2005 Daytona 500 on Fox 10.9/23 national rating/share]. The NBC & TNT broadcast crew, including play-by-play announcer and pre-race host Bill Weber and analysts Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach, will call the action from the booth, with Allen Bestwick, Dave Burns, Marty Snider and Matt Yocum reporting from the pits.(NBC PR)(2-9-2006)
