ESPN Monday Night Football sideline reporter Suzy Kolber will join the network’s NASCAR coverage team as host of the pre-race NASCAR Countdown program.
Kolber, also an anchor on SportsCenter, will host NASCAR Countdown for ESPN and ESPN on ABC’s coverage of the final 17 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races of 2007, beginning with the July 29 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. She also will host NASCAR Countdown for NASCAR Busch Series telecasts on ESPN2 and will host selected practice and qualifying coverage for both series. Kolber’s NASCAR schedule will include hosting ESPN2’s coverage of the NASCAR Busch Series event June 2 at Dover, Del., and ESPN on ABC’s telecast of the NASCAR Busch Series on July 14 at Chicagoland Speedway.
Brent Musburger will continue as race coverage host for telecasts on ESPN on ABC, including all 10 races in the “Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup” and other selected race telecasts.
“Many NASCAR drivers pull double duty with two races on the same weekend, and Suzy is going to be doing that with NASCAR and Monday Night Football,” said Norby Williamson, ESPN executive vice president, studio and remote production. “Brent’s big-event presence combined with Suzy’s reporting and anchoring expertise will set the stage for NASCAR’s exciting stretch run.”
In 2006, Kolber became the first female recipient of the Maxwell Club’s Sports Broadcaster of the Year award and in 2004 was named to Sports Business Daily’s 10 favorite sports TV personalities of the past 10 years.
“NASCAR has always interested me,” said Kolber. “Not only for the cars and speed, but for the accessibility, and how fans can get into it. I’m going to be surrounded by experts, and my job is to be the curious one, ask questions and let the experts share their knowledge with the viewers. The most important thing to me in covering any sport is respecting the sport and the athletes.”
Kolber joined ESPN’s MNF team during its inaugural year in 2006 after five seasons on ESPN’s Sunday Night Football. She worked the ABC Sports broadcast of Super Bowl XL in 2006 in Detroit and contributed to the network’s pre-game show.
Kolber regularly hosts ESPN’s year-round NFL Live news and information show, and she has played a major role in ESPN’s comprehensive coverage of the annual NFL Draft. For the 1999 through 2003 NFL seasons, Kolber was the host of NFL Match-Up. During the NFL off-season, she serves as an anchor on SportsCenter and as an on-site host for ESPN’s tennis coverage at the French Open and Wimbledon. She previously hosted the X Games and Winter X Games and has covered Triple Crown horse racing events for ESPN studio programs.
