''NASCAR Inside Nextel Cup'' was a show that aired Monday nights on
Speed Channel
Speed was an American sports-oriented cable and satellite television network that was owned by the Fox Sports Media Group division of 21st Century Fox. The network was dedicated to motorsports programming, including auto racing, as well as aut ...
during the
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
season. ''Inside Nextel Cup'' was hosted by
Dave Despain. The show was taped every Monday morning at Speed's studios in
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
about 11 am, unless a race is postponed to Monday, in which case the show takes place live. The show usually ran for 60 minutes, except for a brief period during the first few weeks of the 2005 season, when it ran for 90 minutes. Speed Channel chose to discontinue this show at the end of the 2007 NASCAR season, replacing it in 2008 with the similar program ''
This Week in NASCAR
''This Week in NASCAR'' (formerly ''Inside Nextel Cup'') was a 60-minute program that aired Monday nights on the Speed Channel. It was hosted by veteran NASCAR personality Steve Byrnes with panel members Michael Waltrip and Greg Biffle. Other pa ...
''.
History
''Inside Nextel Cup'' originally broadcast on SpeedVision, and was called ''Inside Winston Cup'' until the title-sponsor change in 2004. The show was also rebroadcast on several
Fox Sports Net affiliates when the show was on SpeedVision, but was exclusively on Speed from 2002 to 2007.
The first episode aired after the
1996 Daytona 500
The 1996 Daytona 500, the 38th running of the Daytona 500, event, was run on February 18, 1996, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, as the first race of the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series, 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup season. ...
. The original host was
Allen Bestwick
Allen Bestwick (born September 24, 1961) is an American sportscaster. He is the lead play-by-play voice for University of Connecticut women’s basketball telecasts for SNY, the lead track announcer at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the l ...
, who then broadcast races on
Motor Racing Network. The original