ESPN2 Again To Be Home of NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2008

On February 17, 2007, the NASCAR Nationwide Series was featured as ESPN televised its first live NASCAR race in more than six years with coverage of the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway. The event kicked off ESPN and NASCAR’s new eight-year agreement and marked the return of ESPN to a sport it had previously covered for 20 years.

ESPN2 was established as the home of the series in 2007, with select races televised by ESPN on ABC, the first time in the 26-year history of the series that the same family of networks televised all of the races in the series.

In 2008, NASCAR fans will still be able to watch all of the races on ESPN2, with select races on ESPN and ABC. In addition, all of the ESPN and ESPN2 races will be simulcast on ESPN Deportes, ESPN’s domestic Spanish-language network, and on ESPN360.com, ESPN’s signature broadband service.

Simulcasts on ESPN Deportes and ESPN360.com are part of ESPN’s multimedia approach to coverage of NASCAR, which touches 18 ESPN platforms. ESPN, ESPN HD, ESPN2, ESPN2 HD, ABC, ABC HD, ESPN.com, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Deportes Radio, ESPNDeportes.com, ESPN The Magazine, ESPN Classic, ESPNEWS, ESPN Radio, ESPN360.com, ESPN Mobile Properties, ESPN International and Jayski.com are all involved in NASCAR coverage.

In addition to all 35 NASCAR Nationwide Series races, the networks also televise practice and qualifying from select races, the season-ending banquet and a season review special. Each race includes a dedicated pre-race program called NASCAR Countdown, and comprehensive coverage of the Nationwide Series appears on ESPN2’s NASCAR news and information program, NASCAR Now.

In its first year back to NASCAR, ESPN brought innovation to its coverage of the Nationwide Series and the final 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup races, with the Nationwide Series having the same standards of production as the Sprint Cup Series. For the first time in the history of televised motorsports, all races for both series were televised fully in high definition, including the first-ever use of HD in-car cameras. ESPN2’s telecast of a NASCAR Nationwide Series practice session at Daytona two days before the race was the debut of the HD onboard cameras. ESPN also was the first network to utilize Sportvision’s pointers and telemetry in coverage of the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

In July, ESPN introduced the DISH Tech Center to its NASCAR telecasts. The mobile studio contained Chevrolet cutaway cars as well as dozens of parts and pieces that could be used to illustrate many technical aspects of NASCAR racing. Also introduced in July was “Draft Tracker,” a special effect created by ESPN and Sportvision to demonstrate to viewers how air affects NASCAR race cars.

Viewers responded – more than 122 million people, representing two out of five Americans, watched NASCAR on ESPN in 2007. And with ESPN’s multi-platform approach to coverage, success was measured on many levels: ESPN.com, for example, had nearly 100 percent growth in visits to its motorsports section during 2007 as ESPN platforms became the destination for NASCAR fans.

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