Since the announcement was made by Showtime to create a weekly one hour show regarding NASCAR, fans have been wondering why the show could not have been launched on a basic cable channel instead of a pay channel. But nonetheless, Showtime is steaming ahead with the show and it has announced the talent roster for “Inside NASCAR” which premieres next month.
SHOWTIME SPORTS® ANNOUNCES ‘INSIDE NASCAR’ TALENT: CHRIS MYERS, RANDY PEMBERTON, BRAD DAUGHERTY, MICHAEL WALTRIPSeries Premiere Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2010At 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME®CHARLOTTE, N.C. (January 21, 2010)—SHOWTIME Sports and NASCAR Media Group have tapped veteran sports television host Chris Myers and leading auto racing experts Randy Pemberton, Brad Daugherty and Michael Waltrip to serve as analysts for “Inside NASCAR” when the series premieres in February on SHOWTIME®. The joint announcement was made today by Executive Vice President and General Manager, SHOWTIME Sports, Ken Hershman and Chief Operating Officer, NASCAR Media Group, Jay Abraham at a morning press conference during NASCAR Media Week.Premium television’s first weekly highlights and analysis program dedicated to the sport, Inside NASCAR will premiere on Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME®, immediately following the season finale of Inside The NFL, and run 38 consecutive weeks corresponding with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.Inside NASCAR has all the angles covered with its charismatic on-air team and exclusive highlights and access afforded by NASCAR Media Group. With a two-time Daytona 500 Champion (Waltrip), a team owner (Daugherty), and a life-long NASCAR insider (Pemberton), some of the sport’s most respected names will guide viewers through the ins and outs, the sudden turns and the high-octane drama of the racing season.“The combination of experience, family history and passion for stock car racing makes this group as strong as any that has ever been assembled in a studio,” said Hershman. “We are looking for opinionated and vibrant personalities and I am confident that we’ve found them with these four gentlemen.”“This impressive lineup of commentators will provide the kind of unique insights and sharp commentary appealing to NASCAR fans,” said Abraham. “Fans have been telling us they’re looking forward to a high-end weekly NASCAR magazine news show in primetime, and we are thrilled to partner with SHOWTIME® to bring it to them.”Myers, the Emmy® Award winning broadcaster out of Miami, Fla., is the studio host of NASCAR coverage on FOX and the network’s reporter for the NFL, BCS and MLB. Prior to joining FOX, he anchored SportsCenter and Baseball Tonight on ESPN and covered the Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Finals, The Masters and The Olympics in a prolific career that began when Myers was just 16 years old.“We have a great cross-section of perspective here,” said Myers. “With a former athlete and diehard NASCAR fan, one of the most experienced drivers in NASCAR, and lifelong reporter, I anticipate healthy doses of differing opinions and unique insight into every corner of racing.”“On behalf
of Randy, Brad and Michael,” continued Myers, “we are thrilled to be working together for the first time and excited to get in the studio and find our chemistry. The first show may be like a bad pit stop, but once we get our timing down, this will be a winning crew.”One of the four brothers who have dedicated their lives to the business of racing, Pemberton began his television career in 1986 as a reporter and host for the syndicated television show This Week in Motorsports. Since then, Pemberton has produced and reported on over 500 NASCAR features for CBS, TNN, TBS, FSN, SPEED Channel, DirecTV and radio. He has earned numerous awards for his work including the prestigious Russ Catlin Award for excellence in motorsports journalism on three occasions. Pemberton currently is the host of NASCAR Race Hub and NASCAR in a Hurry and a garage reporter for NASCAR Live on SPEED Channel.Daugherty, a former NBA number-one pick who played for the Cleveland Cavaliers from 1986-1994 wore jersey No. 43 as a tribute to his hero, Richard Petty. Daugherty has said his main goal was to make enough money on the court to one day be part of the NASCAR industry. Following his NBA career, Daugherty invested in the Liberty Racing NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team featuring drivers Kenny Irwin and Kevin Harvick. He is currently a co-owner of JTG Daugherty Racing (NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Truck Series). Daugherty currently is an analyst on NASCAR Countdown and NASCAR Now on ESPN and is the founder of the Daugherty Foundation that works in Asheville, N.C., on community projects benefitting youth and fighting homelessness.One of only three drivers in history to start more than 1,000 NASCAR races (Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Truck), Michael Waltrip has established his legacy in NASCAR—and he is not done yet. Born in a racing family, Michael watched his older brother Darrell Waltrip win three championships, before starting his own career in the Sprint Cup Series. The younger Waltrip has collected five checkered flags, including two at The Great American Race, and a non-points win at the 1996 All-Star Challenge. In a 25-year career he has amassed a remarkable 128 top-10 finishes in the Sprint Cup Series. From his backyard garage in Kentucky, where Michael Waltrip Racing was born, to an accomplished team owner housing three Sprint Cup Series teams, Waltrip is among most colorful, polarizing and engaging characters in stock car racing. In 2010, for the first time in nearly 30 years, Waltrip will run a limited schedule on the racetrack, continue his work at MWR and lend his insight to SHOWTIME Sports’ newest program.Inside NASCAR is a natural extension of regularly scheduled SHOWTIME Sports programming, which includes the Emmy® Award winning Inside The NFL, live boxing and mixed martial arts events, and the critically acclaimed, behind-the-scenes documentary series Fight Camp 360°: Inside The Super Six World Boxing Classic, among other titles.Inside NASCAR will emanate from the new, state-of-the-art NASCAR Hall of Fame in the birthplace of the sport, Charlotte, N.C.
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