SPEED Sets Daytona Speedweeks Schedule

Sprint Cup

SPEED Sets Daytona Speedweeks Schedule

Watch NASCAR Victory Lane on SPEED from Daytona International Speedway...

Erik Arneson | Posted February 05, 2010 Charlotte, NC

Beginning Monday, March 1st, SPEED will feature a new Monday Night NASCAR on SPEED lineup.

LIVE & EXCLUSIVE GATORADE DUEL, NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES COVERAGE HIGHLIGHT DAYTONA SPEEDWEEKS ON SPEED™

DANICA PATRICK TO MAKE STOCK CAR DEBUT ON SPEED;NETWORK LIVE FROM FIRST RACE

DW IN THE BOOTH FOR ARCA, NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCKS

SPEED will open its 2010 Daytona Speedweeks coverage Feb. 4 with live coverage of Budweiser Shootout practice, the Budweiser Shootout Selection Show and the Fourth Annual SPEED Performance Awards.

“There is something a little insane about Daytona Speedweeks,” said SPEED President Hunter Nickell. “… and SPEED gets caught up in it just like everyone else. In fact, it’s our job to put fans smack in the middle of it. When we say, ‘NASCAR on SPEED – Be There!’ it’s not just a marketing slogan, it’s how we do business.”

On Feb. 6, SPEED will bring race fans live and exclusive coverage of Danica Patrick’s stock car debut, as the popular open wheel racer makes her first ARCA Racing Series start for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports race team. To enhance television coverage of Patrick’s effort, SPEEDtv.com, will offer exclusive in-car and ISO streaming videos, along with pit-to-car radio communication between Danica and her team.

Darrell Waltrip will be in the ARCA booth at Daytona with Rick Allen and Phil Parsons. Jim Tretow and Wendy Venturini will work the pits.

The Gatorade Duel at Daytona takes center stage Feb. 11, beginning with a special edition of NASCAR RaceDay Built by The Home Depot at 1 p.m. ET, followed by live race coverage at 2 p.m. ET. Krista Voda and Jeff Hammond will host SPEED’s coverage of the Duel, with the team of Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds calling the race. Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum and Dr. Dick Berggren will serve as pit reporters.

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series opens its season Feb. 12 with Voda hosting NCWTS Setup at 7:30 p.m., followed by race coverage at 8 p.m. ET. Rick Allen, Darrell Waltrip and Phil Parsons will call the race for SPEED, with Ray Dunlap and Adam Alexander in the pits.

“There are so many great storylines in the Truck Series this season,” Nickell said. “Kyle Busch is in as a driver-team owner, popular drivers like Michael Waltrip and Johnny Benson have rides and the unmistakable black No. 3 is back on the track with Richard Childress’ grandson, Austin Dillon, behind the wheel.”

To keep track of Dillon’s progress this season, the young driver will pen a weekly “diary” for SPEEDtv.com, helping fans follow his rookie effort.

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on SPEED enjoyed its highest-rated television season ever in 2009, averaging a Nielsen Household Rating of .81 (597,000 households), up one percent from last year’s .80 and 35 percent from the .60 the series averaged in 2003, its first year on SPEED.

And on Sunday, Feb. 14, SPEED delivers a special three-hour edition of NASCAR RaceDay Built by The Home Depot, leading into FOX coverage of the Daytona 500. John Roberts hosts, with Kyle Petty and Kenny Wallace sharing their observations as teams prepare for The Great American Race. Wendy Venturini and Hermie Sadler lead a team of SPEED RaceDay voices reporting from all around the race track.

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