FanHouse

In case you haven't heard, ESPN is taking over Nextel Cup for the rest of the season. Or is Nextel Cup taking over ESPN ... ? I'll leave that for the non-NASCAR Fanhousers to address once football season starts.

Beginning with the July 29 running of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, ESPN will present the most technologically- advanced coverage of NASCAR in motorsports television history. The telecast, which begins at 1 p.m. ET Sunday, July 29, will be in high definition on ESPN. Dr. Jerry Punch will call the race with analysts Rusty Wallace and Andy Petree and pit reporters Allen Bestwick, Dave Burns, Jamie Little and Mike Massaro. Brent Musburger will host the telecast, and Suzy Kolber will host the pre-race NASCAR Countdown show with analyst Brad Daugherty. Tim Brewer will report from the ESPN DISH Tech Center.

What's wrong with this picture? They've got Bestwick is in the pits instead of the booth. *SIGH*

The ESPN DISH Tech Center?

A fancy name for the high-tech enclosed studio that will travel to all of ESPN's NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race venues and will be utilized by ESPN's producers and announcers for content segments to air during race telecasts. The unit promises to deliver "one of the most cutting-edge and educational race viewing experiences ever developed."

Norby Williamson, ESPN executive vice president, studio and remote production said, "We will now present segments within the telecasts that originate from a specially-designed environment with no exterior interference, allowing us to add to the viewing experience and give NASCAR fans even more information."

Who would have thought it was possible to give us more information than we were already getting?

The tech center will contain the ESPN Chevy Cutaway Car that has been used this year in ESPN's NASCAR coverage as well as a cutaway of a Chevrolet Car of Tomorrow that is racing in selected NASCAR NEXTEL Cup events this season and will be used in all races starting in 2008. The studio also will have room for displays of other race car elements such as engines, transmissions and shock absorbers. ESPN's Tim Brewer, a two-time NASCAR champion crew chief, and other ESPN analysts will report from the Tech Center during race telecasts to help viewers better understand the technical and mechanical aspects of NASCAR racing.

ESPN's 17 Multimedia Platforms Deliver Unprecedented NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Coverage

· ABC, ABC HD – 11 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races, the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, NASCAR Countdown, NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Chase for the Championship Preview.

· ESPN, ESPN HD – six NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races, NASCAR Countdown, ESPN Ultimate NASCAR. Coverage/segments/interviews on all news and information programming, including SportsCenter.

· ESPN2, ESPN2 HD – NASCAR NEXTEL Cup practice and qualifying, NASCAR Now (daily), NASCAR Busch Series races, NASCAR Countdown, NASCAR: Chasing Glory. Coverage/segments/interviews on all news and information programming, including ESPN First Take and Mike and Mike in the Morning.

· ESPN.com -- award-winning reporters/writers Terry Blount and David Newton anchor motorsports news reporting and feature writing. ESPN.com RaceCast, an enhanced, live race day application features an in-race animated graphic display, track information, lap leaders, race leaders, multimedia, driver information and live in-race chat with ESPN NASCAR contributor Tim Cowlishaw. Rusty Nails It weekly column from ESPN racing analyst Rusty Wallace gives fans his powerful, distinctive and no-holds-barred perspective on the racing scene. Within the ESPN Insider premium content section, Blount and Newton regularly update blogs with their insights and more. Regular contributions from ESPN's NASCAR television team, including Marty Smith and Angelique Chengelis. ESPN.com's exclusive collaboration with Jayski.com means that racing fans get unique insights from one of NASCAR's true insiders, and perhaps the Web's top NASCAR blogger, integrated with ESPN.com's award-winning editorial team. Extensive video highlights from every NASCAR NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series race, with the top moments of each race. Additional video from each race, including insider features, practice and qualifying footage, interviews with drivers, pit teams, extensions to ESPN studio programming (including exclusive online segments from ESPN's signature program, NASCAR Now) and video blogs covering major news and events. ESPN.com RACEDAY, ESPN's definitive NASCAR podcast, is originally produced multiple times weekly, and ESPN also produces a weekly Jayski Podcast. Both will cover the latest news and developments and will feature interviews with NASCAR personalities. Both podcasts are available via the ESPN PodCenter and Apple's iTunes Store. Sportsnation, ESPN.com's online sports community hub, features regular NASCAR chats throughout the season, polls and surveys, fan-driven power rankings and more. In addition, ESPN.com NASCAR message boards are enhanced with increased controls and features. Extensive fantasy elements.

The smartest thing ESPN.com did for their NASCAR coverage was hire Marty Smith. The move has made NASCAR.com virtually irrelevant when it comes to breaking news.

· ESPN Radio – ESPN NASCAR coverage discussed on various programs including Mike and Mike in the Morning and The Herd with Colin Cowherd. "NASCAR Minute" each night on GameNight includes insight from ESPN NASCAR analysts Rusty Wallace and Mike Massaro. Interview with Brickyard winner Sunday night after race. RaceDay live at 7 a.m. ET Saturday and 6 a.m. ET Sunday from the Brickyard. Saturday Race Day hosted by Pat Patterson at 7 a.m. ET previews that weekend's NASCAR races and analyzes the previous week's news and results. Includes profiles and interviews with NASCAR's biggest names and newsmakers and the involvement of listeners via calls and e-mails. Sunday Race Day at 6 a.m. ET covers the entire motorsports world.

· ESPN Classic – memorable NASCAR races from the 1980s and 1990s. During week of Indianapolis race, airings of SportsCentury programs featuring NASCAR drivers at 5 p.m. ET daily. Lineup includes Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Monday, July 23), Jeff Gordon (Tuesday), Tony Stewart (Wednesday), Richard Petty (Thursday) and Dale Earnhardt (Friday). Also airing of complete ESPN Ultimate NASCAR series beginning at 10 p.m. Saturday, July 28, and continuing until noon July 29.

· ESPNEWS – daily coverage with highlights, interviews, analysis and previews throughout the NASCAR season on all ESPNEWS shows/segments. In-progress race highlights, extensive post-race coverage and NASCAR news conferences. NASCAR related guests on HotList and The Pulse throughout the week.

· ESPN Deportes – ESPN's Spanish-language television network in the U.S. will offer exclusive coverage of all 17 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races, with commentary from Andres Agulla and Alex Pombo. The six ESPN races will be live, while the network will present all 11 ABC races, including the 10 Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races, on a 24-hour delay. Spanish-language news and information coverage will be provided via SportsCenter and RPM Semanal, the network's motorsports news and information program aired Thursdays.

· ESPN Deportes Radio – the Spanish-language Home of MRN Radio, the Voice of NASCAR will offer up-to-the minute NASCAR coverage, highlighted with news and information updates of NASCAR's three largest racing series – NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, the NASCAR Busch Series and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

· ESPNDeportes.com – the leading Spanish-language sports Web site in the U.S. will provide additional coverage highlighted by extensive online video, live chats, in-race updates, driver information, and columns from ESPN Deportes motorsports announcers Andres Agulla and Alex Pombo.

· ESPN International – in Canada, ESPN's NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races will air on TSN (English) and RDS (French). Races also will air in the United Kingdom and Ireland on NASN2-UK/Ireland. ESPN International represents the syndication rights to all NASCAR events outside North America through a partnership with NASCAR.

· ESPN360.com – live simulcasts of all six ESPN NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races and all ESPN2 NASCAR Busch Series races, including NASCAR Countdown. Extensive video highlights from every NASCAR NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series race. Exclusive driver-specific video capsules as well as season-to-date highlights, interviews, news and all other driver-related video.

· ESPN Mobile Properties – Mobile ESPN on Verizon Wireless features live simulcasts of all six ESPN NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races and all ESPN2 NASCAR Busch Series races, including NASCAR Countdown. Race highlights from NASCAR NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series races as well as the latest news and information, ESPN.com columnists, a leaderboard, updates and alerts, a customized "favorite drivers" personalization feature and more. In addition, fans can find ESPN.com coverage of NASCAR on the ESPN WAP site, among the most popular sites on the wireless Web with 8 million unique users per month.

· ESPN The Magazine – NASCAR content in every issue, including regular motorsports page, feature stories and previews.

· ESPN Racing ICONS -- ESPN's "Racing ICONS" content categories provide an innovative approach to help NASCAR fans find and consume the content they want most on ESPN's media assets. Covering all aspects of the racing experience, the five icons represent fields of relevant content related to a single category, and are "tagged" on content across ESPN's television, online and print media. The five ICON categories are Auto Tech, Communications, Safety, Tech Center and Know How. Each ICON category organizes an array of in-depth ESPN content and enables fans to pursue more in-depth information and entertainment. Additionally, the unique fan navigation device delivers "surround" engagement across ESPN's media platforms and allows advertisers to have a complete brand-aligned content topic within ESPN's comprehensive coverage of NASCAR.