NBC Sports to Present Indycar Phoenix Grand Prix & Formula One Russian Grand Prix

NBCSN presents live INDYCAR and Formula One race coverage this weekend, beginning UNDER THE LIGHTS in primetime on Saturday night with the INDYCAR Phoenix Grand Prix at 9 p.m. ET. Coverage continues on Sunday morning at 7:30 a.m. ET with live coverage of the F1 Russian Grand Prix from Sochi, Russia - home of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games. In addition, NBC Sports Group begins its coverage of the 2017 RED BULL GLOBAL RALLYCROSS season with the first event from Memphis this Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on NBC.

NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app - NBC Sports Group's live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs - will provide comprehensive streaming coverage of this week's motorsports action.

The 2017 Verizon INDYCAR SERIES rolls into Phoenix for its first oval race of the season following a thrilling Grand Prix of Alabama last Sunday on NBCSN. Josef Newgarden won his first race as a member of Team Penske, his second career win at Barber Motorsports Park, holding off four-time series champion Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing). Dixon took the checkered flag at Phoenix last season, leading 155 of 250 laps en route to victory.

Coverage from Phoenix begins with Friday night at 11 p.m. ET with qualifying, which will stream on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app. NBCSN will present qualifying on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET, prior to live race coverage at 9 p.m. ET.

RiCK Allen, who serves as NBC Sports Group's lead NASCAR play-by-play announcer, will handle the play-by-play duties for this week's Phoenix Grand Prix, filling in for lead INDYCAR and F1 announcer Leigh Diffey, who will call the F1 Russian Grand Prix. Allen will be joined by analysts Paul Tracy and Townsend Bell. Marty Snider, Robin Miller, Kevin Lee, and Katie Hargitt will handle coverage in the pits in Phoenix.

Last Sunday's thrilling Grand Prix of Alabama on NBCSN (3:40-5:42 p.m. ET) averaged 470,000 viewers, up 68% vs. last year's event, to rank as the most-watched Grand Prix of Alabama on the network. Through two races, NBCSN's 2017 INDYCAR coverage is averaging 395,000 viewers, up 17% vs. the average viewership of the 2016 Long Beach and Alabama races (339,000 viewers).

The 2017 F1 season continues this weekend on the streets of Sochi, Russia, home of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, with this year's Russian Grand Prix. Mercedes has dominated all three of the races that have been held in Sochi, with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg combining to lead ever single racing lap in the history of Sochi Autodrom.

Mercedes and Hamilton will likely face a challenge this weekend from Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel. The four-time World Champion has won two of the first three races of the 2017 campaign, including a victory in Bahrain two weeks ago. Mercedes' Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas finished second and third, respectively, in Bahrain, despite Vettel's win. Ferrari (102 points) currently holds a slight edge over Mercedes (99 points) in the Constructor Standings.

NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app will stream Practice 1 live tomorrow at 4 a.m. ET, followed by Practice 2 on NBCSN at 8 a.m. ET. NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app stream Practice 3 on Saturday at 5 a.m. ET, followed by qualifying on CNBC at 8 a.m. ET (encore on NBCSN on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET).

F1 Countdown kicks things off on Sunday morning at 7 a.m. ET prior to live race action from Sochi at 7:30 a.m. ET, followed by F1 EXTRA at 10 a.m. ET. NBCSN will air an encore presentation of the race on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Lead F1 announcer Leigh Diffey will call this weekend's action, and will be joined by veteran analyst and former racecar driver David Hobbs, and analyst and former race mechanic for the Benetton F1 team Steve Matchett. F1 insider Will Buxton will serve as the team's on-site reporter from Sochi Autodrom in Russia.

NBC Sports Group begins its coverage of the 2017 RED BULL GLOBAL RALLYCROSS season this Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on NBC with the first event of the season in Memphis, Tenn. The field of competitors will all look to topple defending two-time champion Scott Speed (Volkswagen Andretti). He may face the strongest competition from teammate Tanner Foust, who won four races last season and finished second to Speed in the final standings by just four points. Toby Moody (play-by-play) and Will Christien (analyst) will call the action.

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