ESPN Announces Coverage for CHASE FOR NASCAR SPRINT CUP

Related: Sports, ESPN, NASCAR Sprint Cup

ESPN will televise the 10 races that make up the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, beginning with the Sunday, Sept. 16, GEICO 400 at Chicagoland Speedway and ending Nov. 18 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. NASCAR's version of the playoffs, the 10 races will determine the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion.

Nine of the 10 races will air on ESPN on Sunday afternoons, with the Saturday night, Oct. 13, race at Charlotte Motor Speedway airing in prime time on ABC. Elements of ESPN's coverage of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup include:

NASCAR NonStop -- ESPN's telecasts of the 10 races in the Chase will have a different look with the return of NASCAR NonStop, a split-screen commercial format designed to bring more racing action to viewers. The format, which debuted in ESPN's 2011 coverage of the Chase, will show the advertisement on the left side of the screen and a continuation of racing action on the right side. ESPN's scoring ticker will continue to move across the top of the screen, allowing NASCAR fans to follow the running order of the race during the breaks. NASCAR NonStop will take effect at or near the halfway point of the race, with the first half of the race presented in the traditional commercial break format

WatchESPN -- All NASCAR programming on ESPN and ESPN2 is available on computers at WatchESPN.com and on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app to fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliated provider. Included will be the nine Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup races airing on ESPN as well as selected practice and qualifying sessions airing on ESPN2, and ESPN2's daily NASCAR news and information program NASCAR Now. ESPN and ESPN2's telecasts of NASCAR Nationwide Series races, practices and qualifying sessions also appear on WatchESPN.

SportsCenter - ESPN's flagship news and information program SportsCenter will air immediately following the nine Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup events airing on ESPN with expanded post-race coverage, including exclusive interviews with the race winners. ESPN NASCAR analyst Ricky Craven will be in the SportsCenter studio for the post-race analysis and as he has done for the past two years, NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Carl Edwards will join SportsCenter live from the track following each Chase race with additional analysis from the perspective of a driver who just competed in the event. For the last three races of the season, which start after 3 p.m. ET, ESPN has scheduled an additional SportsCenter to air from 1-2 p.m. leading into NASCAR Countdown. Content of the additional program will be heavy on NASCAR pre-race.

NASCAR Now -- The weekend wrap-up edition of ESPN2's daily NASCAR news and information program NASCAR Now returns for the Chase and will air on Sunday nights after the nine Sunday afternoon races in the Chase. The one-hour race morning edition of NASCAR Now will continue to air on the morning of all NASCAR Sprint Cup races for the rest of the season. NASCAR fans should check their local listings for the times of both weekend programs.

ESPN Radio - ESPN NASCAR analyst Dale Jarrett will appear each Friday morning on ESPN Radio's Mike and Mike in the Morning program (6-10 a.m. ET M-F, simulcast ESPN2) during the 10 weeks of the Chase. Analyst Rusty Wallace will appear each Thursday afternoon on ESPN Radio's The Scott Van Pelt Show (1-4 p.m. M-F, simulcast 1-3 p.m. ESPNEWS). Each weekend morning, ESPN Radio's RaceDay starts its engines at 6 a.m. 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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