To Tweet this release http://es.pn/cvWUFv
September 10, 2010
A new and highly innovative five-part television series featuring NASCAR star Kyle Busch will air on ESPN2 the week of Sept. 13-17 to help kick off ESPN’s live coverage of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship.
Riding Shotgun: Kyle Busch, produced for ESPN by the Emmy Award-winning NASCAR Media Group, will take viewers on a week-long, all-access journey into the life of the driver of the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 M&Ms Toyota. Cameras will follow Busch starting with this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway and will continue throughout the week leading into the start of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sept. 19.
“Kyle Busch is one of the most polarizing figures in NASCAR racing, and this series will give fans a look at sides of him that have never been seen before,” said Julie Sobieski, ESPN vice president, programming and acquisitions. “Whether the fans love him or he’s not one of their favorites, this program will present Kyle and his personality in an intriguing manner that will get their attention, just like his driving on the racetrack.”
The half-hour program, which will require a less than 24-hour turnaround time for production, will debut in prime time on Monday, Sept. 13, at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2, following the Monday roundtable edition of ESPN2’s daily NASCAR news and information program NASCAR Now. The rest of the week, Riding Shotgun: Kyle Busch will air following NASCAR Now at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, and at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
“This is a uniquely challenging production in the world of sports television,” said Jay Abraham, COO of NASCAR Media Group, an entertainment, media and marketing company. “Kyle has a very busy schedule that week and we’ll be shooting one day and airing the next, something very rarely even contemplated in today’s television industry. We appreciate the opportunity and access that Kyle and his team have provided for us.”
In addition to tagging along for meetings at the shop, an open test date, life in the motorhome and preparation for a double duty weekend, viewers also will follow Busch on his trip to ESPN’s campus in Bristol, Ct., on Thursday, Sept. 16, where he will join fellow NASCAR drivers Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart in appearing on multiple ESPN platforms such as SportsCenter, First Take, NASCAR Now, ESPNEWS, ESPN Radio and others.
“I’m excited to give the fans a peek into everything that I have going on over the next couple of weeks,” said Busch, one of the drivers who will be competing in the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship. “Everyone knows how much racing I do, but there are a lot of other commitments that go along with it that fans will get to see. It’s busy for sure.”
-30-
About NASCAR on ESPN:
ESPN produces comprehensive, multi-platform coverage featuring telecasts of the final 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup races, including the 10-race “Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Additionally, ESPN2 is the home of the NASCAR Nationwide Series all season. All television programming is produced in high definition. ESPN’s NASCAR coverage extends to ESPN.com, SportsCenter, ESPN the Magazine, ESPN Classic, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Radio and ESPN International, among other ESPN platforms. ESPN aired 262 NASCAR Cup Races over a 20-year period starting in 1981 and returned to NASCAR coverage in 2007. The network’s award-winning, live flag-to-flag coverage on ESPN has been honored with 19 Sports Emmy Awards, as well as many industry honors. It is widely credited for helping to popularize the sport nationwide.
About NASCAR:
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for one of North America’s premier sports. NASCAR is the No. 1 spectator sport – with more of the top 20 highest attended sporting events in the U.S. than any other sport, and is the No. 2 rated regular-season sport on television. NASCAR races are broadcast in more than 150 countries and in 20 languages. NASCAR fans are the most brand loyal in all of sports, and as a result more Fortune 500 companies participate in NASCAR than any other sport.
NASCAR consists of three national series (the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series), four regional series, and one local grassroots series, as well as two international series. Also part of NASCAR is Grand-Am Road Racing, known for its competition on road courses with multiple classes of cars. NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races at 100 tracks in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada and Mexico. Based in Daytona Beach (Fla.), NASCAR has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Charlotte (N.C.), Concord (N.C.), Conover (N.C.), Bentonville (Ark.), Mexico City, and Toronto.
About NASCAR Media Group:
NASCAR Media Group is a media, marketing and entertainment company that creates and produces programming related to the sport, manages its media partnerships, and forges relationships to integrate the sport into mainstream entertainment. As the internal production and creative services company of NASCAR, NASCAR Media Group is the exclusive rights holder of NASCAR event footage, race data and content. The NASCAR Media Group leverages The Sight, Sound and Emotion of NASCAR through TV and film production, home video, licensed consumer products and premiums for the sports’ sponsors, tracks, teams and fans. To learn more, visit www.nascarmediagroup.com.
Media Contact (ESPN): Andy Hall, 407-566-2209 or [email protected] and George McNeilly, 407-566-2077 or [email protected]
Media Contact (NASCAR): Scott Warfield, 704-348-9748 or [email protected]
