ESPN2 will feature Busch Series racing live Friday, July 6, from Daytona as the series starts the second half of the 2007 season with a 250-mile race at the 2.5-mile superspeedway. The telecast begins with NASCAR Countdown at 7:30pm/et Friday; the race starts at 8pm. Rusty Wallace will work in the ESPN booth as analyst for the telecast, joined by Andy Petree. Dr. Jerry Punch will handle play-by-play. Pit reporters will be Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Mike Massaro and Shannon Spake. Allen Bestwick will host NASCAR Countdown from the ESPN Pit Studio, joined by analyst Brad Daugherty, while Tim Brewer will report from the ESPN Chevy Cutaway Car. ESPN2 will have live coverage of qualifying (1:00pm/et, Friday) from Daytona Speedway as well as the series’ final practice session (5:30pm/et Thursday). As the return of Nextel Cup Series racing to ESPN draws nearer, ESPN Content Development is building up to the July 29 running of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard with 11 hours of programming on the history of NASCAR. The month of July revs up the countdown to green with three shows highlighting NASCAR’s Greatest Drivers, Hottest Rivalries and Biggest Races. The series begins at 9:00pm/et Thursday, July 5, on ESPN with Greatest Drivers, a one-hour special. The program will count down the 25 greatest drivers in NASCAR history, chosen by an exclusive panel of NASCAR experts and historians. NASCAR Now will air on ESPN2 for 30 minutes in its regular 6:30pm/et time slot Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday of this week, and at a special time of 4pm Thursday. The Friday edition will expand to one hour to lead into NASCAR Countdown from Daytona before the Busch Series race. The one-hour weekend edition will air at 10:00am/et. Saturday, July 7, with highlights from Friday’s Busch Series race at Daytona and a look ahead to that night’s Nextel Cup Series race at the same track. The weekend wrap-up edition of the program will air at midnight Sunday.(ESPN PR)(7-2-2007)
