Nicole Briscoe ( Manske; born July 2, 1980) is an American sportscaster who is employed by

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%). Th ...

. Originally focused on covering auto racing for the network, which included stints as the host of ''

NASCAR Countdown ''NASCAR Countdown'' is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series prerace show that debuted on February 17, 2007. It was a live on-site pre-race show for all Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series races televised on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC. It cam ...

'' and ''

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 ...

'', Briscoe became a '' SportsCenter'' anchor in 2015. She is married to

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...

driver

Ryan Briscoe Ryan Briscoe (born 24 September 1981) is an Australian-American professional racing driver from Sydney who has predominantly raced open-wheel and sports cars in Europe and America. In IndyCar he collected 8 wins and 28 podiums, finishing third ...

Early life

A native of

Roscoe, Illinois Roscoe is a village in Winnebago County, Illinois, along the Rock River. It is in a suburban area of the Rockford, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the village population was 10,785, up from 6,244 at the 2000 censu ...

, she graduated from

Hononegah High School Hononegah Community High School is a public high school in Rockton, Illinois and is the only high school comprising Hononegah Community High School District 207. Located between Rockford and the southern border of Wisconsin, the school serves stud ...

in 1998. She and future auto racer Danica Patrick were cheerleaders there in 1996. Nicole won the ''Miss Illinois Teen USA'' 1998 and competed in the

Miss Teen USA Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant formerly run, since 1983, by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 14–19. Unlike its sister pageants Miss Universe, which currently broadcasts on Fox and Miss USA, this pageant is webcast on the M ...

pageant in Shreveport, Louisiana, in August 1998. Nicole was a semi-finalist in the pageant, placing third (of 10) in the evening gown competition, seventh in swimsuit and tenth in interview, placing her eighth overall on average. Two years after passing on her title, she competed in the

Miss Illinois USA The Miss Illinois USA pageant is a competition that selects the representative for the state Illinois in the Miss USA pageant. It is directed by Vanbros and Associates and is previously directed by D&D Productions from 2001 to 2014 before be ...

2001 pageant and placed first runner-up to Rebecca Ambrosi.

Early career

Nicole attended

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois. It was founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895, by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld as part of an expansion of the state's system ...

in Dekalb, Illinois, earning her first job while at Northern Illinois for

WREX-TV Urdnot Wrex is a fictional character in BioWare's ''Mass Effect'' franchise, who serves as a party member (or "squadmate") in the first game of the ''Mass Effect'' trilogy. He is a krogan, an alien race near-sterilised by other galactic races f ...

, the NBC station in Rockford. She worked as a general assignment reporter for

WANE-TV WANE-TV (channel 15) is a television station in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by Nexstar Media Group. The station's studios and transmitter are located on West State Boulevard in the Tower Heights section of t ...

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

, before going to

WISH-TV WISH-TV (channel 8) is a television station in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is locally owned by Circle City Broadcasting alongside Marion-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WNDY-TV (channel 23) and low-power, ...

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

, in April 2004. During her career at WISH-TV, Nicole covered the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

, the

United States Grand Prix The United States Grand Prix is a motor racing event that has been held on and off since 1908, when it was known as the American Grand Prize. The Grand Prix later became part of the Formula One World Championship. , the Grand Prix has been held ...

, the NFL's Indianapolis Colts, and the NBA's Indiana Pacers. She was also a pit reporter for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network. In the May 15, 2006, edition of The ''

Indianapolis Star Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of U.S. state and territorial capitals, state capital and List of U.S. states' largest cities by population, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat, seat of ...

'', Nicole announced that she would be leaving WISH-TV for Speed Channel 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 ...

, with the 2006 Indianapolis 500 on May 28 being her last day. Nicole was the co-host of '' The Speed Report'' (formerly '' Speed News''), a Sunday motorsports program 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 ...

. She replaced Connie LeGrand, and hosted the show from July 1, 2006, to January 27, 2008, when she left to become the new host of the daily news show ''

'' on

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 ...

Current career

From 2008 to 2014, Briscoe co-hosted the NASCAR pre-race shown on ESPN/ABC. Since 2015, she has served as a SportsCenter anchor.

Personal life

She married

in an outdoor ceremony in Hawaii in 2009 and they have since had daughters. In 2018, Ryan became a naturalized American citizen.

References

External links

Nicole Briscoe ESPN BioIndianapolis 500 coverage with Danica Patrick
* ttp://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050805/COLUMNISTS04/50805025 Indianapolis Star column on Manske's dating of 2005 Indy 500 winner br>Indianapolis Star column on Manske's departure from WISH-TV to SPEED Channel.
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Briscoe, Nicole Hononegah Community High School alumni Television anchors from Indianapolis Television anchors from Fort Wayne, Indiana Living people 1998 beauty pageant contestants 20th-century Miss Teen USA delegates Motorsport announcers ESPN people Northern Illinois University alumni People from Charlotte, North Carolina People from Rockford, Illinois People from Wausau, Wisconsin People from Indianapolis Journalists from Illinois People from Roscoe, Illinois American women television journalists 1980 births Racing drivers' wives and girlfriends