FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, October 2nd, 2013

NBCSN PRESENTS INDYCAR AND FORMULA ONE TRIPLEHEADER THIS WEEKEND

Live IndyCar Coverage Features Grand Prix of Houston Doubleheader

Formula One’s Korean Grand Prix Airs Live on Sunday on NBCSN

STAMFORD, Conn. – October 2, 2013 – NBCSN will present 21.5 hours of motorsports coverage this weekend, highlighted by IndyCar’s Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston doubleheader plus Formula One’s Korean Grand Prix. NBC Sports Live Extra — NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, and tablets — will present live streaming coverage of the Grand Prix tripleheader, as well as live coverage of practice and qualifying for the Korean Grand Prix.

Coverage of the Grand Prix of Houston begins Friday at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN with qualifying. Race 1 of the Grand Prix of Houston will air live Saturday at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, followed by Race 2 of the doubleheader on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on NBCSN. Coverage of Firestone Indy Lights Houston, IndyCar’s developmental series, will air at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday following Race 2 of the Grand Prix of Houston.

Helio Castroneves (Penske) leads Scott Dixon (Target Chip Ganassi) by 49 points in the IZOD IndyCar Series points standings with just three races remaining on the schedule. IndyCar returns to Houston this week for the first time since 2007, when Sebastien Bourdais (Dragon) took the checkered flag.

IZOD INDYCAR SERIES POINTS STANDINGS

Rank Driver (Team)

Points

Behind

Wins

Top 10

1 Helio Castroneves (Penske)

501

1

15

2 Scott Dixon (Target Chip Ganassi)

452

49

3

9

3 Simon Pagenaud (Schmidt Hamilton HP)

431

70

2

11

4 Marco Andretti (Andretti)

430

71

0

14

5 Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti)

427

74

2

8

NBCSN’s live comprehensive coverage of Formula One’s Korean Grand Prix begins Friday at 1 a.m. ET with practice, followed by qualifying on Saturday at 1 a.m. ET. Live race coverage of the Korean Grand Prix begins on Sunday at 1:30 a.m. ET. F1 Extra, NBC Sports Group’s half-hour post-race show, will air immediately following the conclusion of the Korean Grand Prix on Sunday. NBCSN will also air an encore presentation of the Korean Grand Prix on Sunday at 5 p.m. ET.

Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) has taken control of the Formula One points standings, increasing his lead to 60 points over Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) following his third consecutive victory in the Singapore Grand Prix two weekends ago. Vettel aims for his third straight Korean Grand Prix victory, having won the race the previous two years.

NBCSN will also air episodes of TRANSLOGIC this week as part of its motorsports coverage.

Date Coverage Network Time (ET)
Fri., October 4 TRANSLOGIC NBCSN 12 a.m.  
TRANSLOGIC NBCSN 12:30 a.m.  
  F1 Korean Grand Prix – Practice NBCSN 1 a.m.  
TRANSLOGIC (Encore) NBCSN 2:30 am.  
IndyCar Grand Prix of Houston – Qualifying NBCSN 7 p.m.  
  F1 Korean Grand Prix – Practice (Encore) NBCSN 11:30 p.m.  
Sat., October 5 F1 Korean Grand Prix – Qualifying NBCSN 1 a.m.  
  IndyCar Grand Prix of Houston – Race 1 NBCSN 3 p.m.  
  F1 Korean Grand Prix – Qualifying (Encore) NBCSN 7:30 p.m.  
Sun. October 6 F1 Korean Grand Prix NBCSN 1:30 a.m.  
  F1 Extra NBCSN 4 a.m.  
  IndyCar Grand Prix of Houston – Race 2 NBCSN 1 p.m.  
  Indy Lights Houston NBCSN 4 p.m.  
  F1 Korean Grand Prix (Encore) NBCSN 5 p.m.  
  F1 Extra (Encore) NBCSN 7:30 p.m.  
         

COMMENTATORS: NBC Sports Group’s IndyCar and Formula One play-by-play voice Leigh Diffey will call the Grand Prix of Houston. Diffey will be joined in the booth this week by former drivers Townsend Bell and Wally Dallenbach. Reporters Jon Beekhuis, Kevin Lee, Marty Snider and Robin Miller will manage the pits. Mike King, Davey Hamilton and Jake Query will have the call of the Indy Lights Houston race.

With Diffey in Houston, veteran motorsports broadcaster Bob Varsha will call the Korean Grand Prix. He will be joined by veteran analyst and former racecar driver David Hobbs, and analyst and former race mechanic for the Benetton F1 team Steve Matchett. F1 insider Will Buxton will serve as the team’s on-site reporter from the Korea International Circuit in South Korea.

INDYCAR AND FORMULA ONE ON NBC SPORTS LIVE EXTRA: NBC Sports Live Extra — NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, and tablets — will present live streaming coverage of the Grand Prix of Houston and the Korean Grand Prix this weekend. Coverage will be streamed via “TV Everywhere,” the media industry’s effort to make quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms.

For desktops, NBC Sports Live Extra can be accessed at NBCSports.com/liveextra. The NBC Sports Live Extra app for mobile devices and tablets is available at the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, and on select Android handset and tablet devices within Google Play.

Coverage airing on NBCSN will live stream to PCs, mobile devices and tablets through NBC Sports Live Extra, and to the digital platforms of participating cable, satellite, and telco services, via “TV Everywhere,” which is available on an authenticated basis to subscribers of participating MVPDs.

Click here for the participating cable/satellite/telco companies offering NBC Sports Live Extra:  
http://nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com/2013/08/16/nbc-sports-live-extra-providers/

MOTORSPORTSTALK: MotorSportsTalk (@MotorSportsTalk) on NBCSports.com brings racing fans up-to-the-minute news, video and information on the IZOD IndyCar Series, Formula One, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and all other motorsports racing from around the world. The site also serves as the destination for all news, analysis and video from NBC and NBCSN productions of IndyCar and F1, including contributions from on-air commentators.

MotorSportsTalk’s content is provided by top racing journalists and expert analysts, including:

  • Keith Collantine (@KeithCollantine), editor and creator of the F1Fanatic blog;
  • Luke Smith (@LukeSmithF1) creator of the F1 site RichlandF1.com;
  • Tony DiZinno (@TonyDiZinno), who has written for RACER Magazine and has covered IndyCar and NASCAR since 2006;
  • Writer Christopher Estrada (@estradawriting) who has written for the Boston Globe, FoxSports.com, created the Indy Racing Revolution blog and is a contributor to IndyCar’s IndyCar Nation blog.

To explore the site, please visit MotorSportsTalk.com.nbcsports.com or www.NBCSports.com.

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