FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, June 29th, 2015

DALE EARNHARDT JR. JOINS STEVE LETARTE FOR PERISCOPE Q&A TOMORROW AT 10:30 AM ET AS NBC SPORTS SOCIAL MEDIA SURROUNDS THE LAUNCH OF NASCAR ON NBC

Facebook Chat with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Steve Letarte Tomorrow at 10 a.m. ET

NBC Sports’ NASCAR Sprint Cup Open Starring Blake Shelton Unveiled Today Exclusively on NASCARonNBC Facebook and Twitter Accounts

Exclusive Behind-The-Scenes Content & Around-The-Clock Coverage on All Social Platforms

Upcoming Tweet-Up for Fans at Daytona International Speedway

NBC Sports Group’s NASCAR Debut is Sat., July 4th, at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN

STAMFORD, Conn. – June 29, 2015 – To gear up for the launch of NBC Sports Group’s 10-year chapter as the home of NASCAR’s championship run, NBC Sports Social Media will deploy around-the-clock coverage across all of NBC Sports’ social media platforms this week.

NBC Sports’ coverage begins on Saturday, July 4th at 7 p.m. ET with the Subway Firecracker 250 NASCAR XFINITY Series Race on NBCSN.  Coverage continues the next evening with one of the most anticipated events of the season, the 57th running of the Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday, July 5th at 7 p.m. ET on NBC.

DALE EARNHARDT JR. JOINS STEVE LETARTE FOR FACEBOOK CHAT & PERISCOPE Q&A TOMORROW: Tomorrow, Tuesday, June 30, at 10 a.m. ET, two-time Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. joins his former crew chief and NBC Sports Group NASCAR analyst Steve Letarte for a Facebook chat from Facebook.com/NASCARonNBC. Following the Facebook chat is a live Periscope Q&A from the @NASCARonNBC Twitter handle with Earnhardt Jr. and Letarte at 10:30 a.m. ET, hosted from 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Fans can tweet and post their questions to Facebook for a chance to have them answered by using the hashtag #NASCARonNBC.

Throughout the week, NBC Sports Group will debut exclusive NASCAR content, including  a Twitter Takeover with Joey Logano, who is going for the “Daytona Double,” this Wednesday, July 1, at 10 a.m. ET, Vine tours of the track at Daytona, and ‘A Day in the Life’ Instagram takeover.

TWEET UP AT DAYTONA THIS WEEKEND: The social teams at NBC Sports, NASCAR, and the Daytona International Speedway have partnered to create a surprise fan tweet-up this week. Fans will be instructed via the @NASCARonNBC, @NASCAR, and @DISUpdates Twitter handles for a fun experience around the race track. Instructions of time and place will be sent out over July 4th weekend.

EXCLUSIVE BEHIND-THE-SCENES CONTENT & ON-AIR “SOCIAL MEDIA PIT STOP”: The NBC Sports and NASCAR on NBC social media handles will share photos, video, Vines and Periscopes of everything that goes into putting on a NASCAR broadcast from inside the trucks, to talent interviews and exclusive access inside the garages throughout the week.

During the week on NASCAR AMERICA and in NBC and NBCSN’s pre-race coverage, NBC Sports’ “Social Media Pit Stop” will showcase the best tweets, posts, photos, video and news on-air.

OFF TRACK WITH RUTLEDGE WOOD: Each week leading up to Daytona, several custom videos featuring Rutledge Wood, NBC Sports’ NASCAR features reporter and “man about the track,” and various NASCAR drivers were released on social media. The first video is a look into the magic of green screen, and in the second video, the drivers play “‘Wood’ You Rather?” The final installment of “Off Track” will debut on Wednesday, July 1.

AROUND-THE-CLOCK COVERAGE: NBC Sports will cover NASCAR on NBC from various NBC Sports social media accounts to make sure every fan has access to the content they want leading up to the races.

  • Facebook: The NBC Sports and NASCAR on NBC Facebook accounts will provide users with news from NASCAR Talk, shareable images, videos, and chats with NBC Sports Group commentators.
  • Twitter: @NASCARonNBC and @NBCSports will provide real-time news and photos from Daytona.
  • Instagram: The NBC Sports Instagram account will be one-stop shopping for photos throughout July 4th Weekend in Daytona, with behind-the-scenes access to NBC’s production, including photos of NBC Sports Group commentators from the studio to pit road.
  • Vine: The NBC Sports social team will create behind-the-scenes Vine content from Daytona throughout the week.

“AMERICA START YOUR ENGINES” WITH NICK OFFERMAN: As part of its multi-platform marketing campaign to promote the launch of NASCAR on NBC, Nick Offerman showcased his comedic and singing chops for a short film featured on-air, on NBCSports.com and on NASCAR on NBC social media channels. The video was also featured on NBC’s coverage of Super Bowl XLIX. To date, the long-form video has over seven million views on YouTube and Facebook.

On July 23, 2013, NASCAR and NBC Sports Group reached a comprehensive agreement that grants NBCUniversal exclusive rights to the final 20 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, final 19 NASCAR XFINITY Series events, select NASCAR Regional & Touring Series events and other live content, beginning this coming 4th of July weekend from Daytona International Speedway.

With this partnership, NBC’s 20 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race schedule includes a designation as the exclusive home to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, when the elite national series races through its final 10 events of the season. The Chase culminates with the season-ending championship event, which returns to network television in 2015 for the first time since 2009. Of NBC Sports Group’s 20 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events, seven will be carried on NBC annually, with 13 airing on NBCSN. Four of NBC Sports Group’s 19 NASCAR XFINITY Series races will air on NBC, with 15 airing on NBCSN.

NASCAR AMERICA is NBCSN’s weekday 30-minute news and highlights program dedicated to America’s fascination with speed and stock car racing, and features regular appearances by NBC Sports’ NASCAR experts, as well as a rotation of guest analysts.

–NBC SPORTS GROUP–