The Busch Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway, this weekend and ESPN on ABC will have live coverage of Saturday’s 250-lap race. The Bristol event is the first short track race of the season for the Busch Series and one of six select Busch Series races this season that will air on ABC, with the other 29 to be televised by ESPN2. Coverage will begin with the pre-race NASCAR Countdown show at 2:30pm/et, with the race to start at 3:00pm/et. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who runs only a handful of Busch Series races, will compete in the Bristol event, seeking his second Bristol Busch Series win. Rusty Wallace, who was a nine-time winner at Bristol during his NASCAR Cup driving career, will lend his knowledge of the track to ESPN’s coverage as analyst, working alongside two-time NASCAR champion crew chief Andy Petree in the booth with lead announcer Jerry Punch. ESPN’s pit reporter team will have a new face at Bristol as Shannon Spake, who has been reporting for ESPN’s SportsCenter, NASCAR Countdown and NASCAR Now this season, will join the telecast team working with Dave Burns, Jamie Little and Mike Massaro as regular pit reporter Allen Bestwick has the weekend off. Brent Musburger will host the telecast and studio analysts Tim Brewer and Brad Daugherty will join Musburger in the ESPN Pit Studio. ESPN2 will have live coverage of practice and qualifying for this weekend’s NASCAR Busch Series event at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday and Saturday, March 23-24. Live coverage of Friday’s one-hour final practice session for the series will be aired from 2:30-3:30pm/et. Qualifying will be televised from 11:00am 12:30pm/et on Saturday. Calling the action from the booth will be Jerry Punch with analysts Rusty Wallace and Andy Petree. Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Mike Massaro and Shannon Spake will report from the pits and garage, while Tim Brewer will be in the ESPN Pit Studio with host Brent Musburger. ESPN2 will have live, primetime coverage of the 2007 IndyCar Series opener from Homestead-Miami Speedway Saturday night at 8:00pm/et. ESPN’s Marty Reid will call the race, joined in the booth for expert analysis by former IndyCar Series driver Scott Goodyear. Jack Arute, Vince Welch and Brienne Pedigo will report from the pits.(ESPN PR)(3-23-2007)
