Nextel Cup Series racing will return to ESPN for the first time in six years with the network’s coverage of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard on Sunday, July 29, from Indianapolis Motor Speedway. ESPN and ESPN on ABC will have live coverage of the final 17 races of the 2007 season, including all 10 races in the Chase for the Nextel Cup by ESPN on ABC, the first time that all Chase races will be on the same network. ESPN’s full schedule for the 2007 Nextel Cup Series season will include telecasts of practice and qualifying from 13 races, the season-ending banquet and season preview and review specials. There will also be a dedicated pre-race program for each race telecast called Nextel Cup Series Countdown. And, for the first time in televised motorsports, all will be produced totally in High Definition. ESPN’s return to NASCAR will begin with live coverage of the NASCAR Busch Series season opener from Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 17. ESPN2 will be the home of the NASCAR Busch Series all season, with six select races televised by ESPN on ABC. “The Allstate 400 at the Brickyard has always been a marquee event on the Nextel Cup schedule and we cannot wait to provide our flag-to-flag coverage from such an historic race track,” said John Wildhack, ESPN senior vice president, programming. “We will dedicate unprecedented multimedia resources to the sport beginning with the season-opening NASCAR Busch Series race at Daytona, continuing with our opening NEXTEL Cup race at Indianapolis on ESPN, and until the season champions are crowned.”(ESPN PR), see my 2007 Nextel Cup Schedule page for the race/tv times.(2-8-2007)
