NBCSN's NASCAR Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series Coverage Kicks Off Saturday
By: Tyler Peterson Jul. 15, 2015
With a thrilling weekend of racing at Kentucky Speedway in the rear-view mirror, NBCSN's coverage of NASCAR Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series racing heads to New England for a full slate of weekend action from New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The green flag drops on this weekend's main events with Saturday's XFINITY Series race at 4 p.m. ET, followed by Sunday's Sprint Cup Series race at 1:30 p.m. ET.
Festivities get underway Friday on NBCSN with consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series practice sessions beginning at 11:30 a.m. ET., followed by XFINITY Series final practice and Sprint Cup qualifying at 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. ET, respectively.
On Saturday, NASCAR SPRINT CUP QUALIFYING is presented on CNBC at 10 a.m. ET, before coverage shifts back to NBCSN for XFINITY Series qualifying (11 a.m. ET) and Sprint Cup final practice (12:30 p.m. ET). At 3:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN presents the XFINITY Series Countdown to Green prerace show prior to live coverage of NASCAR XFINITY Series Racing from New Hampshire Presented by Castrol GTX Magnatec at 4 p.m. ET.
On Sunday, the lead-up to New Hampshire Motor Speedway's main event of the weekend begins with a 60-minute edition of NASCAR AMERICA Sunday at noon ET, followed by the Countdown to Green, Served by Sonic pre-race show at 1 p.m. ET. At 1:30 p.m. ET, coverage shifts from the pre-race set along pit road to the broadcast booth as NBCSN presents NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES Racing from New Hampshire Presented by Pixels.
NBCSN's Krista Voda hosts NBCSN's pre-race coverage for both NASCAR Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series events, alongside analyst Kyle Petty on Saturday and Sunday from New Hampshire Motor Speedway. They welcome crew chief Frank Stoddard to NBC Sports' new open-air, pre-race set overlooking pit road. Stoddard will also contribute to NBCSN's Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series practice coverage on Friday and Saturday from the broadcast booth.
In addition to setting the stage for the upcoming race, Sunday's Countdown to Green, Served by Sonic pre-race show will include an in-depth interview with 2014 Sprint Cup Champion Kevin Harvick, conducted "Driver-to-Driver" by NBCSN NASCAR analyst Jeff Burton. In the interview, Harvick discusses his California roots and the sacrifices he made to break into NASCAR. He also opens up about his fiery, competitive side, and the efforts he took to control his emotions along the way to becoming a champion.
Sunday's pre-race show will also include Burton's view of New Hampshire Motor Speedway from behind the wheel of NBC Sports' Toyota Camry On Track Car. Burton is NASCAR's all-time winningest driver at NHMS, notching four consecutive Sprint Cup race victories at Loudon from 1997-2000, and boasts 15 top-10 finishes in 38 career starts at the track. Pre-race coverage will also feature input from analyst Steve Letarte, who grew up in nearby Cornish, Maine, and believes that this race arrives at an important juncture in the season:
"The race to the Chase is in full effect as we visit the only Chase track left on the 2015 schedule before the start of the playoffs," said Letarte earlier today. "It will be very interesting to see which drivers earn the remaining spots, and I'm curious to see how those teams who are already in the Chase use this trip to the Magic Mile to prepare for the next visit in late September when the stakes are even higher."
Contributing to pre-race coverage and then patrolling pit road during Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series racing on NBCSN are reporters Marty Snider, Kelli Stavast, Dave Burns and Mike Massaro. Joining the NBC Sports New Hampshire broadcast team this week is driver Parker Kligerman who will contribute to XFINITY practices and qualifying.
When engines start and the green flag is set to wave, NBCSN's coverage shifts to the booth, where Daytona 500-winning crew chief Letarte and 21-time Sprint Cup winning driver Burton join race announcerRick Allen for the call of the NASCAR XFINITY Series race on Saturday and the Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday.
FRANK STODDARD AND PARKER KLIGERMAN JOIN NEW HAMPSHIRE BROADCAST TEAM AND 2015 NASCAR AMERICA ROSTER
NBCSN has reached agreements with crew chief Frank Stoddard and driver Parker Kligerman, both of whom will be contributing to coverage at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend, and joiningNASCAR America as regular analysts.
Stoddard will contribute to NASCAR AMERICA from NBC Sports' studio locations in Stamford and Charlotte, and brings more than 17 years of experience as a Sprint Cup crew chief into his analyst role. He enjoyed a very successful driver-crew chief partnership with fellow NBC Sports NASCAR analyst Jeff Burton, during which they reached the winner's circle 14 times over the course of a four-year run (1998-2001).
Former NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rookie of the Year (2011), Kligerman has experience behind the wheel in all three of NASCAR's elite national series. He captured his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series checkered flag at the famed Talladega Superspeedway in 2012 and competed in the Sprint Cup Series as recently as the 2014 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
FIRST NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES RACE ON NBCSN LEADS NETWORK TO 224% WEEKEND INCREASE VS. 2014
NBCSN's first-ever live NASCAR Sprint Cup race led the network to several milestones this past weekend, including a total day average of 428,000 viewers, marking a 224% increase over the same weekend last year on NBCSN. Saturday's prime time presentation of NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing from Kentucky ranked as the most-watched cable sports program of the week and highlighted a triple-header weekend of racing that also included the most watched INDYCAR telecast in four years, as well a thrilling Friday Night NASCAR XFINITY Series race. Click here for more information.
NBCSN'S INDYCAR COVERAGE CONTINUES THIS SATURDAY IN PRIMETIME FROM IOWA SPEEDWAY
NBCSN continues its presentation of the 2015 Verizon INDYCAR Series this Saturday night with live coverage of the Iowa Corn Indy 300 in primetime at 8 p.m. ET. Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. ET with qualifying, immediately following NASCAR XFINITY Series race coverage from New Hampshire, leading into live INDYCAR action from Iowa Speedway. NBC Sports Group lead INDYCAR play-by-play voice Leigh Diffey will call the Iowa Corn Indy 300, alongside analysts Paul Tracy and Townsend Bell. Robin Miller, Jon Beekhuis, Kevin Lee and Katie Hargitt will handle pit reporting duties. A more detailed press release surrounding INDYCAR coverage on NBCSN will be distributed later today.
DateProgramTime (ET)Network
Thurs., July 16NASCAR America5 p.m.NBCSN
NASCAR K&N Pro Series West - Stateline**6 p.m.NBCSN
NASCAR K&N Pro Series West - Stateline** (Encore)11 p.m.NBCSN
Fri., July 17Sprint Cup Series Practice - New Hampshire11:30 a.m.NBCSN
XFINITY Series Practice - New Hampshire1 p.m.NBCSN
NASCAR K&N Pro Series West - Stateline** (Encore)2 p.m.NBCSN
XFINITY Series Final Practice - New Hampshire3 p.m.NBCSN
Sprint Cup Series Qualifying - New Hampshire4:30 p.m.NBCSN
Sat., July 18Sprint Cup Series Practice - New Hampshire10 a.m.CNBC
XFINITY Series Qualifying - New Hampshire11:15 a.m.NBCSN
Lucas Oil Pro MOTOCROSS Spring Creek - Practice11:30 a.m.NBC Sports Live Extra
Sprint Cup Series Practice - New Hampshire12:30 p.m.NBCSN
Lucas Oil Pro MOTOCROSS Spring Creek - Pre-Show1 p.m.NBC Sports Live Extra
Lucas Oil Pro MOTOCROSS Spring Creek - Moto 1s2 p.m.MAVTV
XFINITY Countdown to Green Pre-Race Show3:30 p.m.NBCSN
XFINITY Series Race - New Hampshire4 p.m.NBCSN
Lucas Oil Pro MOTOCROSS Spring Creek - Moto 2s4 p.m.NBC Sports Live Extra
INDYCAR Iowa Indy Corn 300 - Qualifying*6:45 p.m.NBCSN
INDYCAR Iowa Indy Corn 3008 p.m.NBCSN
Lucas Oil Pro MOTOCROSS Spring Creek - Moto 2s*11 p.m.NBCSN
Sun., July 19NASCAR America SundayNoonNBCSN
Sprint Cup Countdown to Green Pre-Race Show1 p.m.NBCSN
Sprint Cup Series Race - New Hampshire1:30 p.m.NBCSN
Sprint Cup Series Post-Race - New Hampshire5 p.m.NBCSN
Chasing 43 - Richard Petty (Encore)5:30 p.m.NBCSN
NASCAR Victory Lap11 p.m.NBCSN
Mon., July 20NASCAR 120 - New Hampshire3 p.m.NBCSN
NASCAR America5 p.m.NBCSN
INDYCAR Iowa Indy Corn 300 (Encore)6 p.m.NBCSN
Indy Lights - Iowa11 p.m.NBCSN
*denotes same-day delay
**NASCAR K&N Series Race from Stateline took place on July 11th
MOTORSPORTS ON NBC SPORTS LIVE EXTRA
NBC Sports Live Extra - NBC Sports Group's live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs - will stream this week's NASCAR and INDYCAR coverage via "TV Everywhere," giving consumers additional value to for their subscription service, and making high quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms. The NBC Sports Live Extra app is available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play and Windows Store, Roku Channel Store and Apple TV.
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