ESPN2 to Air NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series

The NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series will again be televised in 16 one-hour shows on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD, stuff with coverage from select NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series national events, cough it was announced today.

The popular NHRA Sportsman Spotlights, symptoms focusing on NHRA’s Member Track network, will be showcased as part of the race-coverage telecasts.

The NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series coverage will air on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD on a tape-delay basis as part of NHRA’s relationship with ESPN, in its second decade as the exclusive home of NHRA Drag Racing. All 16 telecasts will air on Saturday or Sunday. The NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series has a long-standing tradition of serving as a highly-competitive developmental arena for the future stars of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.

Returning as anchor of the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series telecasts will be long-time NHRA announcer Dave Rieff. Rieff has been involved for many years with NHRA coverage on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD. The color analyst role for the shows will be filled by a rotation of two veteran NHRA announcers, Alan Reinhart and Bill Stephens. Reinhart, whose announcing career spans more than two decades, has been the lead public address announcer of Lucas Oil Series racing at national events and brings extensive knowledge of the series and its competitors. Stephens has been involved with NHRA on the ESPN telecasts for many years and returns to the sport in 2013 both on-site as a public address announcer and in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series telecasts. ESPN2 is now available in nearly 100 million households.

The popular NHRA Sportsman Spotlight segments will continue in 2013. The segments will showcase unique and interesting stories from NHRA Member Tracks in each of the sanctioning body’s seven divisions as well as focus on the different racing programs available for the weekly NHRA enthusiast. Two new faces will be a part of the special feature in 2013. Lewis Bloom, currently involved in the NHRA Mello Yello telecasts on ESPN and best known as “Stat Guy,” will split duties with Reinhart, as they will visit the member tracks and share their reports with viewers during the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series telecasts on ESPN2.