Daytona Beach, FL. (Feb 5, 2006) The new live NASCAR 24/7 will launch trackside Thursday with your hosts Riki Rachtman (MTV's Headbangers Ball) and Leilani Münter. The show will continue Saturday prior to the Bud Shootout. Stop by the NASCAR.com stage and say hello, it is an interactive show and they will be talking to fans as well! Thursday the following drivers will be on stage:
Carl Edwards
Jimmie Johnson
Juan Pablo Montoya
Denny Hamlin
Dave Blaney
Kyle Petty
Mark Martin
JJ Yeley
Kasey Kahne
Jeremy Mayfield
Matt Kenseth
Kyle Busch
Jeff Gordon
Dale Jr
Clint Bowyer
Elliott Sadler
Kevin Harvick
Click here to view NASCAR 24/7 LIVE clips with Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Dale Jr
TURNER SPORTS INTRODUCES STATE-OF-THE-ART RIG FOR TNT AND NASCAR.COM
Facility to Serve as Stage for TNT’s Six Consecutive NASCAR NEXTEL Series Cup Races; NASCAR.COM to Webcast Exclusive Live Weekend Coverage for ‘NASCAR 24/7 Live’
New NASCAR 24/7 Live host Riki Rachtman to unveil new truck and programming with TNT’s Marty Snider and 18 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series drivers including Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards.
Turner Sports, entering its 24th season of NASCAR coverage, will debut its new state-of-the art mobile production rig (see links below for images), and launch its new NASCAR.COM weekend broadband series with its new host today at Daytona International Speedway. The new rig will serve as the set for NASCAR.COM’s exclusive online series, NASCAR 24/7 Live, which will webcast live from various tracks prior to 20 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races throughout the course of the season. The truck will also serve as the home for TNT’s pre-race show during the network’s six consecutive NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races, beginning with the June 10 race telecast from Pocono Raceway and concluding at Chicagoland Speedway on July 15. The biggest names in auto racing will help drop the flag on the new set from Daytona today, including Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart (see full list of drivers below).
“The new Turner Sports rig is a state-of-the-art set like no other as it gives us a completely mobile stage with the unique ability to interact with fans, both at the racetrack and at home,” said Lenny Daniels, senior vice president of production and new media, Turner Sports. “As the new season revs up this week in Daytona, we’re excited to unveil the new truck and new webcasts, and continue to introduce fresh multiplatform innovations that give fans greater access and connectivity to their favorite sport.”
A fully functioning rig, the truck encompasses a retractable platform stage that can rotate a full 360-degrees and be raised seven feet off the base of the truck into the air. Once the stage is fully extended, the height of the rig reaches a towering 26 feet tall. Inside, the truck will house a comprehensive production center for NASCAR.COM’s new weekend series, NASCAR 24/7 Live, while the exterior will feature changeable TNT and NASCAR.COM logos and graphics designed to serve as a stage and backdrop for both Turner’s telecasts and webcasts. The mobile unit will reside in the track infield during the six TNT Cup telecasts and outside the track for the 20 NASCAR.COM webcasts.
Click here to view the new set
NASCAR 24/7 Live will be hosted by Riki Rachtman, best remembered as the popular host of MTV’s heavy metal and hard rock program ‘Headbangers Ball,’ and current host of Racing Rocks on the United Stations Radio Networks. The programming schedule will include three live one-hour shows: Friday’s Lunch at the Track, co-hosted by drivers and analysts who preview the weekend’s races; Saturday’s NASCAR Busch Series Preview Show, with the latest overnight news and buzz from the garage and live interviews with drivers, crew chiefs and NASCAR officials; and Sunday’s NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Preview Show, which will include live interviews with drivers, analysts and crew chiefs and include online polls trivia games and all things NASCAR. All shows and interviews will be available exclusively online at NASCAR.COM.
“As a longtime NASCAR fan, this is truly the ultimate dream job, and I’m excited to do a job that I love with a sport that I’m so passionate about,” said Rachtman. “NASCAR fans are always hungry for new ways to get closer to the action, and I’m glad that Turner continues to think outside of the box to give them what they’re looking for.”
NASCAR 24/7 Live will make its debut with the Bud Shootout Preview Show on Saturday, Feb. 10 at 4 p.m. ET. NASCAR.COM will offer a special sneak peek of the show today, Thursday, Feb. 8, when Rachtman, joined by guest co-hosts TNT pit reporter Marty Snider and NASCAR.COM contributor Leilani Munter, interviews 18 different NASCAR drivers and fields live questions submitted by fans online.
NASCAR drivers scheduled to appear on Thursday to chat live with fans includes: Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, Jeremy Mayfield, Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin,Kyle Busch, Dave Blaney, Jeff Gordon, Juan Pablo Montoya, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Petty, Clint Bowyer, Mark Martin, Elliott Sadler, JJ Yeley, and Kevin Harvick.
ABOUT NASCAR.COM
Turner Sports New Media (TSNM), the interactive division of Turner Sports, Inc., acquired all of NASCAR’s interactive rights in October 2000 and became the exclusive producer of NASCAR.COM in January 2001. One of the fastest growing sports league. Web sites, NASCAR.COM is home to broadband news coverage, fantasy games and the NASCAR.COM SuperStore. The site consistently ranks among the top sports league sites and was named one of the best sports Web sites on the Internet by BusinessWeek (October 2005).
Through September 2006, the site averaged 3.9 million unique users per month during the 2006 NASCAR season. Additionally, multimedia usage on NASCAR.COM is up 40% over 2005. In 2003, NASCAR.COM was awarded an Emmy by the National Television Academy for its TrackPass PitCommand application.
Turner Sports, Inc., a Time Warner company, presents some of the best and most popular sporting events worldwide and is a leader in televised sports programming. With events airing on two networks – TBS and TNT – Turner Sports’ line-up includes the NBA, NASCAR and NASCAR.COM, Major League Baseball, college football, professional golf, PGA.com, PGATOUR.com and ACCSelect.com.
ABOUT TURNER SPORTS
Turner Sports, Inc., a Time Warner company, presents some of the best and most popular sporting events worldwide and is a leader in televised sports programming. With events airing on TBS and TNT, Turner Sports’ line-up includes the NBA, NASCAR and NASCAR.COM, Major League Baseball, college football, professional golf, PGATour.com and PGA.com.
© Copyright 2007 Leilani Münter, LLC.