NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Michigan Live on ESPN

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series moves to the 2-mile Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich., this weekend and ESPN will have a live telecast of the Pure Michigan 400 on Sunday, Aug. 18. NASCAR Countdown airs at noon with the race’s green flag at 1:16 p.m. ET. All NASCAR programming on ESPN networks is also available on computers, smartphones and tablets through WatchESPN and the WatchESPN app.

Announcers:

Booth: Lap-by-Lap announcer Allen Bestwick; analysts Dale Jarrett, Andy Petree.

Pit reporters: Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Dr. Jerry Punch, Vince Welch.

NASCAR Countdown: Nicole Briscoe (host); Rusty Wallace; Brad Daugherty, Ray Evernham (analysts).

NASCAR Nationwide Series Making Mid-Ohio Debut

The NASCAR Nationwide Series will race for the first time ever at the historic Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, on Saturday, Aug. 17, and ESPN will have a live telecast of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200. NASCAR Countdown airs at 2 p.m. ET with the race’s green flag at 2:49 p.m. Also from Mid-Ohio, ESPN2 will air qualifying on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. All NASCAR programming on ESPN2 is also available on computers, smartphones and tablets through WatchESPN and the WatchESPN app.

Announcers:

Booth: Lap-by-Lap announcer Marty Reid; analyst Ricky Craven.

Pit reporters: Rick DeBruhl, Mike Massaro, Shannon Spake.

NHRA in Minnesota on ESPN2, ESPN3 

The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series competes at Brainerd (Minn.) International Raceway this weekend in the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals and drag racing fans can watch the action on both ESPN2 and ESPN3. All NHRA programming on ESPN networks is also available on computers, smartphones and tablets through WatchESPN and the WatchESPN app. The schedule:

Announcers:

Booth: Dave Rieff (anchor); Mike Dunn (analyst)

Pit reporters: Gary Gerould, Jamie Howe, John Kernan.

NASCAR’s Kahne in SportsCenter “My Wish” Series

NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Kasey Kahne joins stars of other sports as participants in the annual ESPN SportsCenter “My Wish” series. The summer series — which chronicles sports-themed wishes by Make-A-Wish® for children with life-threatening medical conditions — will return Saturday, August 17, during the 11 p.m. ET edition of SportsCenter. Emmy Award-winning reporter Chris Connelly, who has hosted the series since its inception in 2006, will reprise his role.

Each episode will feature the story behind the wish, interviews with the children and their families, behind-the-scenes look at the wish fulfilled, and interaction between each child and their favorite athlete/team. In addition, ESPN.com will have articles surrounding each child’s experience posted on the same day as the corresponding wish. Fans can join the conversation using the hashtag #MyWish.

Kahne grants a wish on Sunday, Aug. 20, on the 6 p.m. edition of SportsCenter.  Rylee Durham, a 12-year-old who suffers from Noonan’s syndrome, gets to meet her favorite driver at the famous Daytona International Speedway.

NASCAR Now Schedule

ESPN2’s daily NASCAR news and information program NASCAR Now will preview the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway in the one-hour edition airing Sunday, Aug. 18, at 9 a.m. ET. Studio host Todd Grisham will be joined from the track by ESPN NASCAR analyst Dale Jarrett and reporters Marty Smith and Ryan McGee. All NASCAR programming on ESPN2 is also available on computers, smartphones and tablets through WatchESPN and the WatchESPN app. The week’s schedule:

Motorsports on Other ESPN Platforms

ESPN.com — RacingLive! on ESPN.com is a live blog where fans can engage in debate and discussion with ESPN.com writers and editors during the NASCAR Sprint Cup races. On Sunday, Aug. 18, RacingLive! Michigan will coincide with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway. Fans can join ESPN.com’s NASCAR experts in dissecting every aspect of the race live at https://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/.

ESPN Radio — Each weekend morning, ESPN Radio’s RaceDay starts its engines at 6 a.m. ET with host Pat Patterson anchored from the site of that weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race. On both Saturday and Sunday mornings, ESPN Radio’s RaceDay listeners get an hour of news, previews and analysis, as well as profiles and interviews with NASCAR’s biggest names and newsmakers and the involvement of listeners via calls and e-mails. RaceDay also features interviews with newsmakers from the IZOD IndyCar Series from correspondent Bruce Martin.

Click HERE for the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series schedules on ESPN.

Click HERE for the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule on ESPN.

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Media Contact: Andy Hall, 386-492-2246 or [email protected]