''NASCAR Nation'' was a program on the

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 ...

, which aired Monday nights, discussing the lifestyle of

NASCAR drivers 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 h ...

when they are not on the track. It was cancelled after the 2005 season. The program began in 2005, effectively replacing ''

Totally NASCAR ''Totally NASCAR'' was a newscast about NASCAR racing that aired on Fox Sports Net. The program returned in 2010 in NASCAR, 2010 after a 6-year absence, but in a different format from the show that was originally shown from 2001 in NASCAR, 2001 t ...

'', which had aired on

Fox Sports Net Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by The Walt Disney Company on Mar ...

since 2001. Speed expanded the program to one hour and it was a mixture of hard news, opinion, and feature segments. It aired Monday through Friday at 7 pm Eastern Time (ET). In June 2005, the show carried an interview with NASCAR vice president of competition

Robin Pemberton Robert (Robin) Pemberton (born August 15, 1956) is an American motor racing official and former vice president for competition of NASCAR. Previously, Pemberton was a pit stop, crew chief for several NASCAR teams over the course of 17 years, head ...

in which he tried to justify the disqualification of

Busch 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 ...

driver

Johnny Sauter Jonathan Joseph "Johnny" Sauter (born May 1, 1978) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 47 Toyota Tundra for G2G Racing, the No. 13 Tundra for Th ...

. Due to a technical violation found during post-race inspection, Sauter was stripped of championship points and prize money. Reportedly, NASCAR officials did not like the tone of the interview. Whether or not the interview was a factor was never explained publicly, but the week of June 20–24, Speed aired repeats of previous shows, then returned on June 27 with an entirely retooled ''NASCAR Nation''. The information segments were removed and only the "fluff" elements, as noted above, remained. The show also received a new set, new theme music, and new hosts. In August, ''NASCAR Nation'' was reduced to Mondays only, at 8 pm ET. It was part of a new "strip" of weekly NASCAR shows introduced by Speed. These shows included ''The Chase is On'', ''One-Track Mind'', and ''Backseat Drivers''. At the end of the 2005 season in November, ''NASCAR Nation'', was cancelled. Two segments from the show were carried into 2006: "Mikey Mic'd," starring

Michael Waltrip Michael Curtis Waltrip (born April 30, 1963) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, racing commentator, and published author. He competes full time in the Camping World Superstar Racing Experience. He is the younger brother o ...

, which aired on ''

NASCAR RaceDay ''NASCAR RaceDay'' (also known as ''NASCAR RaceDay fueled by Sunoco'') is an American pre-race television show on Fox Sports 1 that precedes all NASCAR Cup Series race broadcasts. Part of the ''Fox NASCAR'' series, the show previously aired on ...

'' but was then canceled; and a trivia segment, which is part of ''NASCAR Live''. ''One-Track Mind'' and ''Backseat Drivers'' were also canned. ''The Chase is On'' remained for a few more seasons but has not returned since the end of the 2007 season. Speed would not have another original nightly show about NASCAR until ''NASCAR Race Hub'' debuted on October 10,

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Show segments (original)

*"The Big Story": In-depth examination of a NASCAR personality or event *"Home Base": Drivers' lives away from the track *"Nationcast": A look at the weekly weather from the race site *"Time Capsule": Highlights of past NASCAR moments *"Sound-Off": Fans' opinions of various topics (in later version, drivers were asked) *"Mikey Mic'd": Reality mini-show starring Michael Waltrip (also in later version)

Show hosts

Ralph Sheheen Ralph Sheheen (born August 23, 1964) is an American sports announcer. He is one of the lead broadcasters of NASCAR Xfinity Series on NBCSN, and was the lead commentator of Feld Entertainment's AMA Supercross Championship from 2006 until 2020. He ...

and

Courtney George Courtney George (born June 24, 1986) is an American curler from Duluth, Minnesota. Career George began curling in 1998. She won two medals at the World Junior Curling Championships as alternate for Cassandra Johnson, gold in 2002 and silver in 2 ...

(first two weeks) *Ralph Sheheen and

Krista Voda Krista Voda Kelley (born May 31, 1974) is an American sportscaster who covers auto racing as the play-by-play announcer for the ARCA Menards Series on MAVTV. She previously worked for ''NASCAR on Fox'' and '' NASCAR on Speed'' from 2003 to 2014 ...

(March through June) *

Leeann Tweeden Leeann Tweeden is an American radio broadcaster, model and sports commentator. She is co-host of ''Dr. Drew Midday Live'' on Radio 790 KABC in Los Angeles. Early life Tweeden was born in Manassas, Virginia, to Bill Tweeden, a retired Air For ...

, Craig Reynolds, and

Shannon Spake Shannon Spake (born July 23, 1976) is an NFL reporter and NASCAR host for Fox Sports. Previously, she worked for ESPN where she contributed to ''SportsCenter'' to give pre and post-game reports, and also worked as a sideline reporter for SEC on E ...

(June through November) In addition, both versions featured contributions from Jon Willenborg, a former contestant on ''

The Apprentice ''The Apprentice'' is a Reality competition, reality talent game show franchise originally aired in 2004 in the United States. Created by U.S.-based British producer Mark Burnett, the show depicts contestants from around the country with variou ...

''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nascar Nation

Nation A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by those ...

Speed (TV network) original programming 2005 American television series debuts 2005 American television series endings