Drag Racing’s Biggest Event, NASCAR Doubleheader at Atlanta
ESPN2 Airing 11 Hours of NHRA U.S. Nationals Coverage
The biggest event of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season will have 11 hours of coverage on ESPN2 this weekend with the running of the 58th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis. Expanded qualifying and eliminations telecasts will culminate with six consecutive hours on Labor Day Monday, the final day of competition. In addition, ESPN3, ESPN’s multi-screen live sports network, will have 10 total hours of live coverage of Friday qualifying as well as the full day of eliminations on Monday. All NHRA programming on is also available on computers, smartphones and tablets through WatchESPN and the WatchESPN app.
The schedule:
| Date | Time | Event | Network |
| Friday, Aug. 31 | 5:30 p.m. | Qualifying (live) | ESPN3, WatchESPN |
| Sunday, Sept. 2 | 11 a.m. | Qualifying | ESPN2, WatchESPN |
| Sunday, Sept. 2 | 5 p.m. | Qualifying | ESPN2, WatchESPN |
| Monday, Sept. 3 | 11 a.m. | Eliminations (live) | ESPN3, WatchESPN |
| Monday, Sept. 3 | Noon | Eliminations | ESPN2, WatchESPN |
Announcers:
Booth: Paul Page (anchor); Mike Dunn (analyst)
Pit reporters: Gary Gerould, Dave Rieff, John Kernan, Jamie Howe.
NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series at Atlanta in Prime Time
The NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series will race under the lights at the 1.5-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend with events on Saturday and Sunday nights, Sept. 1-2. ESPN will have a live telecast of Sunday night’s 500-mile NASCAR Sprint Cup race, with NASCAR Countdown at 6:30 p.m. ET and the race’s green flag at 7:46 p.m. Saturday night’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race airs on ESPN2, with NASCAR Countdown at 6:30 p.m. and the green flag at 7:16 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 (Sprint Cup); Marty Reid (Nationwide Series); analysts Dale Jarrett, Andy Petree.
Pit reporters: Dave Burns, Mike Massaro, Shannon Spake, Vince Welch.
NASCAR Countdown (Sunday): Nicole Briscoe (host); Rusty Wallace, Brad Daugherty (analysts).
Clint Bowyer, Team Featured in Special Program Sunday on ABC
NASCAR fans can go behind-the-scenes with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Clint Bowyer and the Michael Waltrip Racing team in a one-hour special program airing Sunday, Sept. 2, at 2 p.m. ET on ABC.
Catching Speed, produced by award-winning NASCAR Productions, is a glimpse into how a team prepares during the week for a big race like the Brickyard 400. The show focuses on the No. 15 5-Hour Energy Toyota team during the week and throughout the race in Indianapolis. Fans will be able to listen to crew chiefs and engineers in competition meetings, pit crew members during pit practices and mechanics working on the car – all in preparation for Indy.
American Le Mans Series on ABC, ESPN3 from Baltimore
The American Le Mans Series races this weekend on the street circuit in Baltimore and racing fans can watch the Saturday, Sept. 1, sports car endurance race live on ESPN3 at 1 p.m. ET. ABC will air highlights on Sunday, Sept. 2, at noon.
ESPN3, ESPN’s multi-screen live sports network, also will air qualifying for the event on Friday, Aug. 31, at 5:45 p.m. All ALMS programming on ESPN2 and ESPN3 is also available on computers, smartphones and tablets with the WatchESPN app and WatchESPN.com.
NASCAR Now Schedule
ESPN2’s daily NASCAR news and information program NASCAR Now will preview the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the one-hour weekend edition that airs Sunday, Sept. 2, at 10 a.m. ET. Host Jonathan Coachman will be joined in the studio by ESPN NASCAR analyst Ricky Craven and reporters Marty Smith and Ryan McGee will check in from the track.
| Date | Time | Show | Host | Network |
| Wed., Aug. 29 | 1 a.m. | NASCAR Now | Nicole Briscoe | ESPN2, WatchESPN |
| Thu., Aug. 30 | 2 a.m. | NASCAR Now | Nicole Briscoe | ESPN2, WatchESPN |
| Sun., Sept. 2 | 10 a.m. | NASCAR Now | Jonathan Coachman | ESPN2, WatchESPN |
| Tue., Sept. 4 | 1 a.m. | NASCAR Now | Jonathan Coachman | ESPN2, WatchESPN |
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, Sept. 2, RacingLive! Atlanta will coincide with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. 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 senior motorsports writer Ed Hinton will report from AMS.
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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