FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, March 6th, 2019

NBC SPORTS BEGINS COVERAGE OF 2019 NTT INDYCAR SERIES THIS WEEKEND WITH FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETERSBURG SUNDAY AT 1:30 P.M. ET ON NBCSN

NBC Sports Begins First Season as Exclusive Home of IndyCar in 2019; More Than 350 Hours of Coverage, Including 103rd Running of Indianapolis 500 on May 26 on NBC

Pre-Race Coverage on NBCSN Begins Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET with Countdown to Green; Features Interview with Robert Wickens

Football Night in America Analyst and Pro Football Hall of Fame Member Tony Dungy Named Grand Marshal for Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

NBC Sports Gold INDYCAR Pass Direct-to-Consumer Package Includes All Practices and Qualifying, Indy Lights, and Full-Event Replays

NBC Sports’ INDYCAR Analyst Townsend Bell Previews Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on NASCAR America’s Motorsports Hour Thursday at 5 p.m. ET on NBCSN

STAMFORD, Conn. – March 6, 2019 – NBC Sports begins its first full season as the home of INDYCAR this weekend with comprehensive live coverage of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, which airs this Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN. Pre-race coverage on NBCSN begins Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET with Countdown to Green.

Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing) is the reigning NTT IndyCar Series champion following his fifth career INDYCAR championship in 2018. Dixon held off a charge from Alexander Rossi (Andretti Autosport), who finished second in the championship last season, followed by last season’s Indianapolis 500 winner Will Power (Team Penske).

Live INDYCAR coverage from St. Pete begins this Friday at 10:40 a.m. ET with Practice 1 exclusively on NBC Sports Gold’s INDYCAR Pass, which will provide live streaming coverage of all practices, qualifying, Indy Lights races and on-demand replays for the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series. This marks the first time that all NTT IndyCar Series qualifying and practice sessions will receive television-quality production, including timing and scoring. INDYCAR Pass is available for an early-bird price of $49.99 until March 10. Click here to purchase.

INDYCAR Pass will provide exclusive live streaming coverage of Practice 2 on Friday at 2:15 p.m. ET and Practice 3 on Saturday at 10:20 a.m. ET. INDYCAR Pass and NBCSN will have live coverage of qualifying on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET, leading into race coverage on NBCSN on Sunday.

NBC Sports’ lead INDYCAR broadcast team of Leigh Diffey (play-by-play), Townsend Bell (analyst), and Paul Tracy (analyst) will have the call of the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, including practices and qualifying on NBC Sports Gold’s INDYCAR Pass. Marty Snider, Kevin Lee, Jon Beekhuis, Kelli Stavast and Robin Miller will provide reports from the pits.

Diffey, Bell and Tracy will host pre-race coverage on Countdown to Green on Sunday from the NBC Peacock Pit Box alongside pit lane. The pre-race show will be highlighted by Kelli Stavast’s interview with Robert Wickens, as Wickens discusses his crash at Pocono last year and his recovery, and Rutledge Wood’s conversation with two-time defending St. Petersburg race winner and resident Sebastian Bourdais (Dale Coyne Racing).

Following is this weekend’s INDYCAR coverage from St. Pete on NBCSN and NBC Sports Gold:

Date Coverage Network* Time (ET)
Fri., March 8 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – Practice 1 NBC Sports Gold 10:40 a.m.
Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – Practice 2 NBC Sports Gold 2:15 p.m.
Sat., March 9 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – Practice 3 NBC Sports Gold 10:20 a.m.
Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – Qualifying NBC Sports Gold/NBCSN 2:30 p.m.
Sun., March 10 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – Warm-Up NBC Sports Gold 9:15 a.m.
Countdown to Green NBCSN 12:30 p.m.
Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg NBCSN 1:30 p.m.
INDYCAR Post-Race NBCSN 4 p.m.

*all coverage on NBCSN streams on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app

TOWNSEND BELL PREVIEWS GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETERSBURG ON NASCAR AMERICA’S MOTORSPORTS HOUR THURSDAY AT 5 P.M. ET ON NBCSN

NBC Sports INDYCAR analyst Townsend Bell will join NASCAR America’s Motorsports Hour this Thursday at 5 p.m. ET on NBCSN to preview the upcoming 2019 INDYCAR season ahead of the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Krista Voda will host NASCAR America’s Motorsports Hour on Thursday alongside analyst A.J. Allmendinger.


FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA
ANALYST AND PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME MEMBER TONY DUNGY NAMED GRAND MARSHAL FOR FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETERSBURG

Tony Dungy, the Pro Football Hall of Fame head coach who currently serves as an analyst on NBC Sports’ “Football Night in America,” will serve as the grand marshal of this weekend’s 15th annual Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the inaugural race of the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series.

Dungy will give the command for drivers to start their engines on Sunday, effectively kicking off the 17-race NTT IndyCar Series season, from the passenger seat in a Honda-powered two-seat Indy car known as “Honda’s Fastest Seat in Sports.” Once Dungy gives the command, he’ll lead the parade lap ahead of the rest of the field in the Honda INDYCAR driven by racing legend Mario Andretti.


INDYCAR DRIVER AND NASHVILLE NATIVE JOSEF NEWGARDEN GOES “INSIDE-THE-GLASS FOR NBC SPORTS’ NHL COVERAGE

2017 NTT IndyCar Series champion and Nashville Predators fan Josef Newgarden joined NBC Sports’ NHL coverage on Tuesday night as an ‘Inside-the-Glass’ guest for the Minnesota Wild vs. Nashville Predators game on NBCSN. Newgarden was featured during pre-game and first-period coverage alongside analyst Pierre McGuire. Click here to watch an excerpt of Newgarden’s appearance.


2019 INDYCAR SEASON ON NBC AND NBCSN

NBC Sports’ coverage of the 2019 IndyCar Series begins this week with the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the first of 17 races to air on NBC and NBCSN during the season.

The 103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500, set for Sunday, May 26, 2019, will be the first ever on NBC. The Indy 500 will also be included in NBC Sports’ Championship Season marketing campaign, which touts numerous high-profile championship events that are presented across NBC Sports platforms from May to July, including the Triple Crown, The PLAYERS, Premier League Championship Sunday, French Open, Stanley Cup Final, Tour de France, and The Open Championship.

INDYCAR coverage on NBC will begin with the Grand Prix of Indianapolis on Saturday, May 11. Following the Indy 500, NBC will present the Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader on the weekend of June 1-2, followed by races at Road America on Sunday, June 23 and Mid-Ohio on Sunday, July 28. The 2019 NTT IndyCar Series championship will be decided on NBC, with the season’s penultimate race in Portland on Sunday, Sept. 1, followed by season finale at Laguna Seca on Sunday, Sept. 22. Click here for more information.


MONSTER ENERGY SUPERCROSS DAYTONA – SATURDAY AT 7:30 P.M. ET ON NBCSN

NBC Sports continues its coverage of the 2019 Monster Energy Supercross season this weekend from Daytona International Speedway. Cooper Webb won last weekend’s 450 Class event in Atlanta, his fifth win of the season, while Adam Cianciarulo won in the 250 Class for the fourth time in 2019.

Ralph Sheheen, five-time Supercross champion and seven-time Motocross champion Ricky Carmichael, host and former racer Daniel Blair, and reporter Will Christien will call the action.

Date Event Coverage Time (ET)
Sat., March 9 Daytona – Qualifying Session 1 NBC Sports Gold 1 p.m.
Daytona – Studio Coverage NBC Sports Gold 2:30 p.m.
Daytona – Qualifying Session 2 NBC Sports Gold 3:15 p.m.
Daytona – Event NBCSN & NBC Sports Gold 7:30 p.m.

ABOUT NBC SPORTS GROUP

NBC Sports Group serves sports fans 24/7 with premier live events, insightful studio shows, and compelling original programming. The sports media company consists of NBC Sports, NBC Olympics, NBCSN, Golf Channel, Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA, NBC Sports Regional Networks, NBC Sports Radio and NBC Sports Digital, which includes NBCSports.com, NBCOlympics.com, GolfChannel.com, the digital assets of the NBC Sports Regional Networks, Rotoworld, the NBC Sports Talk franchise, multiple apps, and two transactional sports businesses, GolfNow and SportsEngine. NBC Sports Group possesses an unparalleled collection of television rights agreements, partnering with some of the most prestigious sports properties in the world: the International Olympic Committee and United States Olympic Committee, the NFL, NHL, NASCAR, INDYCAR, PGA TOUR, The R&A, PGA of America, Churchill Downs, Premier League, Tour de France, French Open, and many more.

–NBC SPORTS–