NASCAR coverage from Chicago today at 3:30pm on ESPN2 with Nationwide series the Dollar General 300 live from Chicagoland Speedway. The race coverage is on MRN Radio and Sirius-XM Channel 90.
Sunday we get our first race of the Chase 2pm on ESPN with the Geico 400. The race will air live on MRN ON 1370AM WVIE locally and on Sirius-XM Channel 90.
Heading into the start of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, NASCAR, ESPN and Turner Sports, which manages NASCAR.COM,will provide race fans with a never-before-seen digital viewing experience during the sport’s postseason run. NASCAR.COM’s RaceBuddy product will be available for the first time ever during the Chase while NASCAR content will appear for the first time ever in ESPN’s WatchESPN.com platform and WatchESPN app.
RaceBuddy, NASCAR.COM’s popular, interactive live video product, will feature two mosaics with a mix of eight in-car and stationary cameras positioned around the track for the nine Chase races airing on ESPN. Fans wanting to watch ESPN’s live telecast on their computer, smartphone or tablet will now be able to do so through ESPN’s groundbreaking application, WatchESPN and WatchESPN.com.
“Enhancing the viewing experience and improving the sport’s digital and social presence for our millions of fans, at the track, at home and everywhere in between, is a goal we never lose sight of,” said Marc Jenkins, NASCAR’s vice president of digital media. “Being able to offer this series of interactive products during the Chase will further engage our fans with a robust digital presence that will forever change how the championship points battle is consumed.” ESPN’s telecasts of the 10 races in the Chase will have a new look with the introduction of NASCAR NonStop, a split-screen commercial format that will bring more racing action to viewers. The format will show the advertisement on the left side of the screen and a continuation of racing action on the right side. ESPN’s scoring ticker will continue to move across the top of the screen, allowing NASCAR fans to follow the running order of the race during the breaks. NASCAR NonStop will take effect at or near the halfway point of the race, with the first half of the race presented in the traditional commercial break format.
RaceBuddy on NASCAR.COM, which debuted in 2008 and has predominantly served as an enhancement to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races on TNT, will return on September 18 for the Geico 400 from Chicagoland Speedway (ESPN, 2 p.m. ET). In addition to the two mosaics with a total of eight camera angles, RaceBuddy on NASCAR.COM will continue to offer DVR Functionality, the Enhanced LIVE Leaderboard and RaceView’s position tracker.
“Turner Sports is delighted to partner with NASCAR and ESPN to expand the award-winning RaceBuddy on NASCAR.COM to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup,” said Matthew Hong, senior vice president and general manager, sports operations, Turner Sports. “Feedback from fans has been that they wish RaceBuddy were available for additional races outside the TNT portion of the season, so we’re proud to be able to bring them ‘ChaseBuddy’ and extend the interactive and immersive experience of RaceBuddy to nine playoff races.”
