''NASCAR Countdown'' is a

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 ...

Sprint Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971 ...

and

Nationwide Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

prerace show that debuted on February 17, 2007. It was a live on-site pre-race show for all Sprint Cup and

races televised on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially fo ...

and

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

. It came as a result of

getting broadcast rights to

races, including the

Chase for the Sprint Cup The NASCAR playoffs is a championship playoff system used in NASCAR's three national series. The system was founded as 'The Chase for the Championship' on January 21, 2004, and was used exclusively in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2004 to 2015. Si ...

. The program was also available in high-definition on either ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC. Along with the press release of this program,

also announced plans for a daily show devoted to

entitled ''

NASCAR Now ''NASCAR Now'' was a NASCAR news and analysis show that aired year round Tuesday through Saturday as a thirty-minute show at 2:00am ET on ESPN2. ''NASCAR Now'', that debuted on February 5, 2007, was broadcast in HD from Bristol, Connecticut and ...

''. ''NASCAR Countdown'' was telecast from a new, state-of-the-art mobile pit studio, similar to ''

NASCAR on Fox ''NASCAR on Fox'', also known as ''Fox NASCAR'', is the branding used for broadcasts of NASCAR races produced by Fox Sports and have aired on the Fox television network in the United States since 2001. Speed, a motorsports-focused cable channel ...

s "Hollywood Hotel." At Sprint Cup events, the program was always hosted by

Nicole Briscoe Nicole Briscoe ( Manske; born July 2, 1980) is an American sportscaster who is employed by ESPN. Originally focused on covering auto racing for the network, which included stints as the host of ''NASCAR Countdown'' and ''NASCAR Now'', Briscoe beca ...

. Joining Briscoe was five-time

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

All-Star and former winning

team owner

Brad Daugherty Brad Daugherty may refer to: * Brad Daugherty (basketball) (born 1965), American NBA player, currently a television sportscaster * Brad Daugherty (poker player) (born 1951), American poker player {{Hndis, Daugherty, Brad ...

and former Cup champion

Rusty Wallace Russell William "Rusty" Wallace Jr. (born August 14, 1956) is an American former NASCAR racing driver. He has won the 1984 NASCAR Cup series Rookie of the Year and the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship. Over the course of his successful care ...

Andy Petree Joseph Andrew Petree III (born August 15, 1958), is a former NASCAR crew chief, driver, team owner, and broadcaster who has worked as the rules analyst for ''Fox NASCAR'' and the Vice President of Competition at Richard Childress Racing. After ra ...

and

Dale Jarrett Dale Arnold Jarrett (born November 26, 1956) is a former American race car driver and current commentator for NBC. He is best known for winning the Daytona 500 three times (in 1993, 1996, and 2000) and winning the NASCAR Winston Cup Series champi ...

also contributed to the program from the broadcast booth.

Variations

*On February 17, at the

Orbitz 300 The Daytona 300, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Beef. It's What's for Dinner. 300, is the first race of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season, held at Daytona International Speedway. It is held the day before the Daytona 500, and is c ...

Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR as well as its season opening event. In addition to NA ...

, Brent Musburger broadcast from a separate studio between turns 3 and 4, while

Chris Fowler Chris Fowler (born ) is an American sports broadcaster for ESPN, who serves as the play-by-play announcer for ''Saturday Night Football'' on ABC and ESPN’s tennis coverage. He is also known for his work on '' College GameDay'', which he h ...

took his place in the pit studio alongside Daugherty and Tim Brewer. Both sets were used in the program. *On March 4, Fowler substituted for Musburger again, this time as the only host. ESPN did not explain Musburger's absence, but the race was held in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

and it is possible that Musburger could not enter

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

due to a lack of a valid

passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that contains a person's identity. A person with a passport can travel to and from foreign countries more easily and access consular assistance. A passport certifies the personal ...

. (Since January 23, 2007,

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from the cross-border crime and illegal immigration tha ...

, or ICE for short, has required all visitors from the U.S. to either Canada or Mexico to carry passports in those countries. The law took immediate effect for air travelers, such as those working the NASCAR on ESPN broadcasts

*On March 10, the first of the six races on broadcast sister ABC, the two-studio setup returned at

Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located in Clark County, Nevada in Las Vegas, Nevada about 15 miles northeast of the Las Vegas Strip, is a complex of multiple tracks for motorsports racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is ...

and Musburger and Fowler co-hosted once again. *In addition to Musburger and Fowler,

Erik Kuselias Erik Kuselias is an Emmy Award, Emmy award winning television and radio personality and host who currently works for CBS Sports, where he hosts “Sportsline” (the network’s show on sports wagering) and CBS Sports HQ. A Mensa International ...

and

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 ...

have served as hosts. *''Countdown'' was pre-empted in consecutive weeks on April 7 and 14 because

women's tennis Women's tennis is one of the most popular sports for women. It is one of the few sports in which women command fame and popularity that equal those of their male counterparts. Women's Tennis Association is the main organisation which runs femal ...

matches, the preceding programs on ESPN2, ran long both weeks. It was also pre-empted on October 13 because the Arizona-Southern California football game ran longer than anticipated that day. *Musburger returned as the host for the June 30, 2007 Busch Series telecast from New Hampshire on ABC.

References

TruckSeries.com: Musburger, Wallace, Punch Headline ESPN/ABC NASCAR Team

External links

Motor Sports at ESPN.tvNASCAR at ESPN.com
{{ESPN original programming 2007 American television series debuts 2010s American television series ESPN original programming ESPN2 original programming American Broadcasting Company original programming

Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...

American sports television series

Variations

See also

References

External links