FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, September 21st, 2017

2017 MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES PLAYOFFS CONTINUE THIS SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, AT 2 P.M. ET ON NBCSN

First Race of 2017 XFINITY Series Playoffs – Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN

 

NBC Sports Group to Provide More Than 17 Hours of NASCAR Playoff Coverage from New Hampshire Motor Speedway & Kentucky Speedway

Quotes from Jeff Burton & Dale Jarrett on Chase Elliott’s L1-Level Penalty Following Race at Chicagoland

 

STAMFORD, Conn. – September 21, 2017 – NBC Sports Group surrounds this weekend’s NASCAR Playoff races with more than 17 hours of NASCAR Cup Series coverage from New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire, and XFINITY Series coverage from Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky. NBC Sports Group’s live race coverage begins Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN, with the first race of the 2017 XFINITY Series Playoffs from Kentucky Speedway. Coverage culminates Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on NBCSN, with the second race of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs from New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

 

Following a dominant win last Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway, Martin Truex Jr. and the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota lead the Cup Series Playoff field with 2101 points, and are officially locked into the Round of 12. With two races left in the opening Round of 16, Kyle Larson leads the remainder of the field with 2075 points, followed by past Cup Series Champions Kevin Harvick (2067 points), Brad Keselowski (2061 points), and Kyle Busch (2061 points). Click here for a complete list of Cup Series Playoff standings.

 

After Justin Allgaier’s win last Saturday at Chicagoland Speedway, 12 drivers officially advanced to the 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series Playoffs. William Byron leads the field with 2025 points, followed by Allgaier (2023 points), regular season champion Elliott Sadler (2020 points), Daniel Hemric (2009 points) and Brennan Poole (2006 points).

 

In addition to live television coverage on NBCSN, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app – NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs – will provide comprehensive streaming coverage of this weekend’s NASCAR action.

 

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES RACING FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE – SUNDAY AT 2 P.M. ET ON NBCSN

 

NBCSN kicks off its Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series coverage from New Hampshire Motor Speedway this Friday at 11:30 a.m. ET with first practice, followed by qualifying at 5 p.m. ET.

 

Saturday’s coverage begins at 9 a.m. ET on CNBC with second practice, followed by final practice at 11:30 a.m. ET on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app. In addition, local coverage will be available on NBC Sports Bay Area and CSN Washington Plus. NBCSN will air an encore presentation of final practice on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET.

 

Sunday’s race day coverage begins at 1 p.m. ET on NBCSN, with NASCAR America, and leads into NBC Sports Group’s pre-race show, Countdown to Green, at 1:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

 

Before the green flag falls on Sunday, NBC Sports features reporter Rutledge Wood (@rutledgewood) will bring viewers behind the scenes of New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s final fall Cup Series race. With a new track schedule on the horizon for 2018, Wood will join New England’s die-hard fan base and they celebrate 19 years of crisp autumn racing in New Hampshire.

 

Coverage wraps up at 6 p.m. ET with NBCSN’s post-race show, Victory Lap.

 

NBC Sports Group’s lead race announcer Rick Allen (@Rickallenracing) will call this weekend’s Monster Energy action, alongside Daytona 500 winning crew chief Steve Letarte (@steveletarte), and “The Mayor” of NASCAR Jeff Burton (@Jeffburton).

 

Krista Voda (@KristaVoda) will host pre- and post-race coverage alongside auto racing icon Kyle Petty (@Kylepetty), and Hall of Fame driver Dale Jarrett (@DaleJarrett). Marty Snider (@HeyMartysnider), Kelli Stavast (@Kellistavast) and Parker Kligerman (@Pkligerman) will report from pit road alongside Rutledge Wood.

 

XFINITY SERIES COVERAGE FROM KENTUCKY – SATURDAY AT 8 P.M. ET ON NBCSN

 

NBC Sports Group’s coverage of the first XFINITY Series race of the 2017 Playoffs begins Friday, with first practice at 4 p.m. ET on NBCSN, followed by final practice 6:30 p.m. ET.

 

Race day coverage begins Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN with XFINITY Series qualifying. Pre-race Countdown to Green coverage starts at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, and race coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET.

 

Dave Burns (@TVDaveBurns) calls this weekend’s XFINITY action from Kentucky Speedway, alongside analyst Dale Jarrett. NASCAR on NBC’s Kligerman and Ralph Sheheen will serve as pit-reporters for Saturday evening’s race.

 

JEFF BURTON AND DALE JARRETT ON CHASE ELLIOTT’S L1-LEVEL PENALTY FOLLOWING CHICAGOLAND RACE

 

NASCAR on NBCSN analysts Jeff Burton & Dale Jarrett shared the following thoughts on Chase Elliott’s L1-level penalty.

 

Burton: “The penalties for stepping out of bounds have to escalate. Emanuel Zervakis told me a long time ago ‘If you don’t make people do the right thing, they are not going to.’ And that is the truth. These penalties are a good thing, but NASCAR needs to ramp them up, because this sport has to have integrity. When a person watches a race, they have to know all the drivers are playing by the same rules.”

 

Jarrett: “NASCAR does not like to have penalties. NASCAR would like everyone to go through inspection, before and after the race, and come out perfect. But that is just not the reality. To keep the playing field as level as possible, there needs to be rules, and they need to be enforced no matter who it is.”

 

NEW ENGLAND NATIVE STEVE LETARTE JOINS NATE RYAN’S NASCAR ON NBC PODCAST

 

NASCAR on NBC analyst and New England native Steve Letarte joins Nate Ryan (@nateryan), on this week’s NASCAR on NBC podcast. Letarte breaks down this past Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Chicagoland Speedway, and discusses how Martin Truex Jr.’s dominant win will affect the rest of the Playoff field. The NASCAR on NBC podcast is available on NASCAR Talk, Apple Podcasts, AudioBoom, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher and podcasting apps. For more info click here.

 

UPCOMING NBC SPORTS GROUP NASCAR PROGRAMMING

 

DATE COVERAGE TIME (ET) NETWORK
Thursday, September 21 NASCAR America 5:00 PM NBCSN
NASCAR Whelen Series – Riverhead 6:00 PM NBCSN
Friday, September 22 NASCAR Cup Series First Practice – New Hampshire 11:30 AM NBCSN
NASCAR XFINITY Series First Practice – Kentucky 4:00 PM NBCSN
NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying – New Hampshire 5:00 PM NBCSN
NASCAR XFINITY Series Final Practice – Kentucky 6:30 PM NBCSN
Saturday, September 23 NASCAR Cup Series Second Practice – New Hampshire 9:00 AM CNBC
NASCAR Cup Series Final Practice – New Hampshire 11:30 AM NBC Sports app, NBCSports.com
NBC Sports Bay Area, CSN Washington Plus
NASCAR XFINITY Series Qualifying – Kentucky 5:30 PM NBCSN
NASCAR Cup Series Final Practice – New Hampshire (Encore) 6:30 PM NBCSN
NASCAR XFINITY Series Countdown to Green 7:30 PM NBCSN
NASCAR XFINITY Series Racing – Kentucky 8:00 PM NBCSN
Sunday, September 24 NASCAR America 1:00 PM NBCSN
NASCAR Cup Series Countdown to Green 1:30 PM NBCSN
NASCAR Cup Series Racing – New Hampshire 2:00 PM NBCSN
NASCAR Cup Series Post-Race Show 5:30 PM NBCSN
Victory Lap 6:00 PM NBCSN

 

NASCAR ON NBC

 

In 2017, NBC Sports Group will present the final 20 NASCAR Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races, final 19 NASCAR XFINITY Series events and select NASCAR Regional & Touring Series events.

 

NBC Sports Group’s NASCAR programming also includes NBCSN’s daily motorsports show NASCAR America, coverage of NASCAR’s Awards Ceremonies, the annual NASCAR Hall of Fame induction ceremony, as well as original programming specials. NBC Sports Group concluded the 2016 NASCAR season presenting more hours of trackside coverage and programming than ever before.

 

For more information about NBC Sports Group shows and properties, including press releases, photos, talent and executive bios and headshots, please visit NBCSportsGroupPressBox.com.

 

— NBC SPORTS GROUP —