IZOD IndyCar Series Season Begins Live on ABC
The 2012 season for the IZOD IndyCar Series will begin on Sunday, March 25, as ABC will televise the event from the street circuit in St. Petersburg, Fla. The telecast begins with pre-race at 12:30 p.m. ET and the race’s green flag will be at 1 p.m.
Announcers:
Booth: Lap-by-lap announcer Marty Reid; analyst Scott Goodyear
Pit reporters: Rick DeBruhl, Jamie Little, Vince Welch
NASCAR Nationwide Series in California
The NASCAR Nationwide Series moves to the 2-mile Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., this weekend for a 300-mile race and ESPN will have a live telecast on Saturday, March 24. The NASCAR Countdown pre-race show airs at 5 p.m. ET with the race’s green flag at 5:46 p.m. Also, ESPN2 will air NASCAR Nationwide Series qualifying earlier in the day at 1:30 p.m. All NASCAR programming on ESPN and ESPN2 is also available on computers, smartphones and tablets with the WatchESPN app and WatchESPN.com.
Announcers:
Booth: Lap-by-Lap announcer Allen Bestwick; analysts Dale Jarrett, Andy Petree.
Pit reporters: Dave Burns, Mike Massaro, Dr. Jerry Punch, Shannon Spake.
NASCAR Countdown: Nicole Briscoe (host); Jarrett, Brad Daugherty (analysts).
NASCAR Now Schedule
The one-hour weekend edition of ESPN2’s daily NASCAR news and information program NASCAR Now will air on Sunday, March 25, at 11 a.m. ET with a preview of that day’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. Michael Yam will host, joined by analyst Dale Jarrett from California along with reporter Marty Smith. Weekday editions of the program air at 3 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday of this week and at 2:30 p.m. Friday. NASCAR Now will review the California race weekend at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 26, with host Mike Massaro and analyst Ray Evernham.
| Date | Time | Show | Host | Network |
| Tue., March 20 | 3 p.m. | NASCAR Now | Shannon Spake | ESPN2, WatchESPN |
| Wed., March 21 | 3 p.m. | NASCAR Now | Shannon Spake | ESPN2, WatchESPN |
| Thu., March 22 | 3 p.m. | NASCAR Now | Jonathan Coachman | ESPN2, WatchESPN |
| Fri., March 23 | 2:30 p.m. | NASCAR Now | Michael Yam | ESPN2, WatchESPN |
| Sun., March 25 | 11 a.m. | NASCAR Now | Michael Yam | ESPN2, WatchESPN |
| Mon., March 26 | 7 p.m. | NASCAR Now | Mike Massaro | ESPN2, WatchESPN |
NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series
The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series is off this weekend but drag racing fans can still catch some straight-line excitement with two programs airing on ESPN2 on Saturday, March 24.
Highlights from the recent event in Gainesville, Fla., for the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series will air at noon ET, followed at 1 p.m. by an episode of NHRA Thrills and Spills.
Motorsports on Other ESPN Platforms
ESPN.com — RacingLive! on ESPN.com is a live blog where fans can engage in debate and discussion with ESPN.com writers and editors during the NASCAR Sprint Cup races. On Sunday, March 25, RacingLive! California will coincide with the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. Fans can join ESPN.com’s NASCAR experts in dissecting every aspect of the race live at https://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/. ESPN.com national motorsports writer Terry Blount will be on hand in Fontana.
ESPN Radio — Each weekend morning, ESPN Radio’s RaceDay starts its engines at 6 a.m. ET with host Pat Patterson anchored from the site of that weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race. On both Saturday and Sunday mornings, ESPN Radio’s RaceDay listeners get an hour of news, previews and analysis, as well as profiles and interviews with NASCAR’s biggest names and newsmakers and the involvement of listeners via calls and e-mails.
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Media Contact: Andy Hall, 386-492-2246 or andy.hall@espn.com
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