FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, July 18th, 2019

NASCAR, INDYCAR, IMSA AND PRO MOTOCROSS HIGHLIGHT THIS WEEK’S MOTORSPORTS COVERAGE ACROSS NBC SPORTS

More Than 46 Hours of Motorsports Coverage This Week, Including Stock Car, Open Wheel, GT, and Motos

Saturday’s Line-Up: NASCAR Xfinity Series From New Hampshire; IndyCar Series Iowa 300; IMSA Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock; and Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Spring Creek National

Saturday’s IndyCar Series Pre-Race Coverage from Iowa Begins at 6:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN

INDYCAR Continues Viewership Gains

STAMFORD, Conn. – July 18, 2019 – NBC Sports – the home of motorsports — will present more than 46 hours of coverage this week, from stock car racing to open wheel to GTs to motos. NBCSN will present more than 15 hours of motorsports coverage on Saturday alone, including NASCAR Xfinity Series racing from New Hampshire at 4 p.m. ET; IndyCar Series Iowa 300 at 7 p.m. ET; IMSA Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock at 9:30 p.m. ET; and the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Spring Creek National at 1 a.m. ET (10 p.m. PT).

This weekend’s coverage also features Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series racing from New Hampshire on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN. For more details on NBC Sports’ coverage of NASCAR this weekend, click here.

INDYCAR SERIES IOWA 300 – LIVE RACE COVERAGE SATURDAY AT 7 P.M. ET ON NBCSN

IndyCar’s annual trip to Iowa Speedway moves back to Saturday night under the lights, adding a visual kick to one of the most frenetic races of the season. Drivers will rip off sub-18 second laps at speeds exceeding 180 miles per hour on a bumpy, weathered 3/4-mile “bullring.” NBC Sports presents exclusive live race coverage at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN, with pre-race coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

Indianapolis 500 winner Simon Pagenaud is now firmly in the title conversation after a dominant victory from pole position last Sunday in Toronto. Josef Newgarden remains championship leader by just four points over Alexander Rossi, but Pagenaud has cut his own deficit to 39 points following his third win of the season. James Hinchcliffe is the defending champion at Iowa.

2019 NTT IndyCar Series Points Standings – Top 5 Overall:

Rank Driver Team Wins Points
1 Josef Newgarden Team Penske 3 434
2 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport 2 430
3 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske 3 395
4 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 1 348
5 Will Power Team Penske 0 306

 

Live coverage begins exclusively on NBC Sports Gold’s INDYCAR Pass with two Friday practice sessions (Practice 1 at 11 a.m. ET; Practice 2 at 7 p.m. ET). Between those sessions, NBCSN will present live Iowa 300 qualifying at 2 p.m. ET. NBC Sports Gold’s INDYCAR Pass provides live streaming coverage of all practices, qualifying, Indy Lights races and on-demand replays for the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series season. Click here to purchase.

Calling this week’s race is Leigh Diffey (play-by-play), Paul Tracy (analyst), and AJ Allmendinger (analyst). Following this weekend’s race, Allmendinger will have served as an NBC Sports commentator across five different motorsports (NASCAR, IMSA, INDYCAR, Supercross, and American Flat Track). Iowa will mark the first time that Tracy and Allmendinger have called a race together. Townsend Bell will not be at Iowa, due to his racing commitments this weekend in the IMSA WeatherTech Championship at Lime Rock Park. Kevin Lee, Dillon Welch and Robin Miller will report from the pits.

“I can’t wait to work with my long-time friend PT [Paul Tracy],” says Allmendinger. “Early in my career, he did so much for me — from driving for him in karts on his PTK team to getting my name out there in the junior formula categories to helping me make my way into Champ Car. We were at one time teammates at Forsythe [Racing], so to now be teammates at NBC Sports and covering the IndyCar race together. It will be a fun and special weekend for myself.”

Following is this weekend’s IndyCar Series programming across NBC Sports:

DATE COVERAGE TIME (ET) NETWORK
Fri., July 19 IndyCar Series Iowa 300 – Practice 1 11 a.m. NBC Sports Gold
IndyCar Series Iowa 300 – Qualifying 2 p.m. NBCSN
IndyCar Series Iowa 300 – Practice 2 7 p.m. NBC Sports Gold
Sat., July 20 IndyCar Series Iowa 300 – Pre-Race 6:30 p.m. NBCSN
IndyCar Series Iowa 300 – Race  7 p.m. NBCSN
IndyCar Series Iowa 300 – Post-Race 9 p.m. NBCSN

 

INDYCAR CONTINUES VIEWERSHIP GAINS WITH HONDA INDY TORONTO

NBC Sports’ presentation of Honda Indy Toronto from the streets of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Sunday, July 14, averaged a Total Audience Delivery of 508,000 viewers on NBCSN, up 10% vs. last year (464,000). The race delivered a 0.33 household rating, 502,000 TV-only viewers, and streamed an Average Minute Audience of 6,000 viewers.

The season’s 11 races on NBC (5), NBCSN (6) and digital are averaging a TAD of 1.337 million viewers, up 7% vs. the comparable ABC/NBCSN races in 2018 (1.242 million). The TAD for NBCSN’s races is up 10% vs. last year (409,000 vs. 371,000).


IMSA NORTHEAST GRAND PRIX AT LIME ROCK – LIVE COVERAGE BEGINS SATURDAY AT 3 P.M. ET ON NBC SPORTS DIGITAL; NBCSN PRESENTS COVERAGE AT 9:30 P.M. ET

The Northeast Grand Prix at Connecticut’s Lime Rock Park is one of two IMSA WeatherTech Championship events that are exclusively for its two GT classes. Porsche aims to push its record win streak in GT Le Mans to six races, while in GT Daytona, Turner Motorsport BMW driver Bill Auberlen gets his first chance to tie Scott Pruett’s all-time IMSA record of 60 career class victories.

NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports App will livestream coverage of the Northeast Grand Prix at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday. NBCSN will present coverage of the event at 9:30 p.m. ET.

Rick Allen (play-by-play), Calvin Fish (analyst), and Jon Beekhuis (analyst) will be in the booth for Saturday’s race, with Parker Kligerman and Brian Till on pit road. Kligerman returns to his home track at Lime Rock this weekend where his career began. NBC Sports’ own Townsend Bell will also compete in Saturday’s race, co-driving the #12 AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus with Frank Montecalvo in the GT Daytona class.


LUCAS OIL PRO MOTOCROSS SPRING CREEK NATIONAL – NBCSN PRESENTS COVERAGE SATURDAY NIGHT AT 1 A.M. ET, FOLLOWING IMSA NORTHEAST GRAND PRIX

Following an off-weekend, the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship returns to action in Minnesota for Round 8. Eli Tomac will look to extend his 450MX title lead at a venue where he swept both motos and took the overall win last year. In 250MX, Dylan Ferrandis is heating up after three consecutive moto wins, and becoming a growing threat for class points leader Adam Cianciarulo.

Veteran play-by-play voice Jason Weigandt, analyst and two-time AMA Pro Motocross Champion Grant Langston, and pit reporter Will Christien will call this weekend’s action.


NBC SPORTS GROUP PRESENTS MORE THAN 18 HOURS OF LIVE TRACKSIDE COVERAGE FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE’S “MAGIC MILE” THIS WEEKEND

Coming off last week’s thrilling finish between Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch at Kentucky Speedway, NBC Sports heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., this weekend to present live coverage of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 from New Hampshire Motor Speedway this Sunday, July 21, at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN. NBC Sports will super-serve fans with more than 18 hours of trackside coverage this week, including Xfinity Series racing from New Hampshire this Saturday, July 20, at 4 p.m. ET on NBCSN. Click here for more information on this weekend’s NASCAR coverage.

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Following is this week’s remaining motorsports coverage across NBC Sports:

DATE COVERAGE TIME (ET) NETWORK
Thurs., July 18 NASCAR America Motorsports Hour 5 p.m. NBCSN
Fri., July 19 IndyCar Series Iowa 300 – Practice 1 11 a.m. NBC Sports Gold
NASCAR Cup Series First Practice – N.H. 12:15 p.m. NBCSN
NASCAR Xfinity Series First Practice – N.H. 1 p.m. NBCSN
IndyCar Series Iowa 300 – Qualifying 2 p.m. NBCSN
NASCAR Xfinity Series Final Practice – N.H. 3:30 p.m. NBCSN
NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying – N.H. 4:30 p.m. NBCSN
NASCAR America 5:30 p.m. NBCSN
NASCAR The Decades – The 1990s 6 p.m. NBCSN
NASCAR The Decades – The 1980s 7 p.m. NBCSN
IndyCar Series Iowa 300 – Practice 2 7 p.m. NBC Sports Gold
Sat., July 20 Mecum Top 10 Drag Cars 6 a.m. NBCSN
Mecum Presents: Todd Werner’s Drag Racing 6:30 a.m. NBCSN
NASCAR Cup Series Final Practice – N.H. 10 a.m. CNBC
NASCAR Xfinity Series Qualifying – N.H. 11:15 a.m. NBCSN
NASCAR America 12 p.m. NBCSN
NASCAR Cup Series Final Practice – N.H. 12:30 p.m. NBCSN
IMSA Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock 3 p.m. Streaming
  NASCAR Xfinity Series Countdown to Green 3:30 p.m. NBCSN
  NASCAR Xfinity Series Race – N.H. 4 p.m. NBCSN
  IndyCar Series Iowa 300 – Pre-Race 6:30 p.m. NBCSN
  IndyCar Series Iowa 300 – Race 7 p.m. NBCSN
  IndyCar Series Iowa 300 – Post-Race 9 p.m. NBCSN
  IMSA Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock* 9:30 p.m. NBCSN
  Lucas Oil Motocross Spring Creek Nat’l* 1 a.m. NBCSN
Sun., July 21 Mecum Presents: Richard Petty’s 12 p.m. NBCSN
NASCAR America 1:30 p.m. NBCSN
  NASCAR Cup Series Countdown to Green 2:30 p.m. NBCSN
  NASCAR Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 3 p.m. NBCSN
  NASCAR Cup Series Post-Race Show 6:30 p.m. NBCSN
  NASCAR Victory Lap 7 p.m. NBCSN

*delayed coverage

MOTORSPORTS ON NBCSPORTS.COM AND THE NBC SPORTS APP

NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app — NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs — will provide live streaming coverage of all NASCAR, IMSA and Lucas Oil Pro Motocross championship coverage airing on NBC and NBCSN via “TV Everywhere,” giving consumers additional value to their subscription service, and making high quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms.

NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app are powered by Playmaker Media and available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire.

-NBC SPORTS-