Pocono: NASCAR on FOX Quotes & Programming Schedule | Blog

FOX NASCAR AT POCONO RACEWAY & TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY QUOTES & PROGRAMMING SCHEDULE

FOX Sports makes national sports broadcasting history this weekend at Pocono Raceway with its “Drivers Only” NASCAR XFINITY SERIES race telecast Saturday, June 10 at 1:00 PM ET on FOX.

In what is believed to be the first time a nationally televised sporting event has been called entirely by active athletes currently competing in that sport, FOX’s on-air line-up features 2014 champion Kevin Harvick on play-by-play with analysis from Clint Bowyer and Joey Logano. Ryan Blaney, Erik Jones and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. cover pit road, while Danica Patrick and Denny Hamlin host race coverage from the Hollywood Hotel.

FOX Sports announcers Shannon Spake and Michael Waltrip will open FOX’s pre-race coverage at 12:30 PM ET from the Hollywood Hotel as Patrick and Hamlin make their way from the garage following MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES final practice, which concludes at 12:30 PM ET (live on FS1), to the Hollywood Hotel.

On Sunday, June 10, the eight aforementioned drivers compete in the MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES race, live on FS1 at 3:00 PM ET. FS1 also offers live coverage of the NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES from Texas Motor Speedway on Friday, June 9 at 8:00 PM ET. FOX Sports’ coverage of stock car racing this weekend also includes the ARCA RACING SERIES race live from Pocono on Friday, June 9 at 5:30 PM ET on FS1.

During the week, FS1’s NASCAR RACE HUB, NASCAR’s most-watched daily news and information program, continues Mondays through Thursdays at 6:00 PM ET. Additionally, the NASCAR RACE HUB PODCAST is available on iTunes, SoundCloud and Google Play Music.

Below are programming information and quotes from FOX NASCAR analysts Jeff Gordon, Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds and Jeff Hammond.

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES

• Date/Time: Sunday, June 11 (3:00 PM ET)

• Network: FS1

• Announcers: Mike Joy, Hall of Famer and three-time champion Darrell Waltrip, four-time champ Jeff Gordon and Larry McReynolds

• Pit reporters: Jamie Little, Chris Neville and Matt Yocum

• Hosts: Chris Myers and Michael Waltrip

• Pre-race: NASCAR RACEDAY (1:30 PM ET on FS1), hosted by Chris Myers with analysts Darrell Waltrip and Gordon; reporters Little, Neville, Yocum and Kenny Wallace

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES

• Date/Time: Saturday, June 10 (1:00 PM ET)

• Network: FOX

• Announcers: Special “Drivers Only” broadcast features play-by-play announcer Kevin Harvick with analysts Clint Bowyer and Joey Logano; pit reporters Ryan Blaney, Erik Jones and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.; network coverage hosts in the Hollywood Hotel include Danica Patrick and Denny Hamlin

• Pre-race: NASCAR RACEDAY-XFINITY (12:30 PM ET on FS1); hosted by Shannon Spake, Danica Patrick and Denny Hamlin with analysts Michael Waltrip and Larry McReynolds; reporters Kenny Wallace and Chris Neville

• Notes: Stenhouse Jr. will be advised by Jamie Little, Erik Jones by Matt Yocum and Ryan Blaney by Chris Neville

NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES (from Texas Motor Speedway)

• Date/Time: Friday, June 9 (8:00 PM ET)

• Network: FS1

• Announcers: Vince Welch, Phil Parsons and Todd Bodine

• Pit reporters: Hermie Sadler and Alan Cavanna

• Pre-race: NCWTS SETUP (7:30 PM ET on FS1); hosted by John Roberts with analyst Jeff Hammond; reporters Sadler and Cavanna

• NCWTS SETUP features a flashback to William Byron and Johnny Sauter’s wins at Texas in 2016, a look back at Johnny Sauter’s win last weekend at Dover and a live interview with Timothy Peters regarding his new ride.

ARCA RACING SERIES (from Pocono)

• Date/Time: Friday, June 9 (5:30 PM ET)

• Network: FS1

• Announcers: Ralph Sheheen and Jim Tretow

• Pit reporter: Heather DeBeaux

FOX NASCAR QUOTES

Of the eight MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES drivers calling Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY SERIES race at Pocono Raceway on FOX, who will stand out the most?

“Kevin Harvick has a very challenging job (play-by-play announcer), and so does Danica Patrick (coverage host). Those are key spots and you have to lead. Harvick is going to realize that what Mike Joy and Adam Alexander do is very, very tough.”

--Jeff Gordon

On Jimmie Johnson tying Cale Yarborough’s 83-win mark last weekend at Dover:

“No driver has won 83 Cup races and seven championships in a shorter period of time than Jimmie Johnson. The man is a legend, plain and simple.”

--Darrell Waltrip

On the success and cohesion of the No. 48 team:

“Everyone is committed. Jimmie (Johnson) is committed. The team is devoted to him. They want to please him, and that has to make him want to go out on the track and return the favor. That’s important for a driver.”

--Darrell Waltrip

On Joe Gibbs Racing remaining winless after 13 races this season:

“Earlier in the season I would have been a little bit concerned because Joe Gibbs Racing didn’t quite have some of the speed and performance. It started coming, and now they just need to be patient. The speed is there, they’ve qualified up front, the pit stops are there. Everything is starting to come together.”

--Jeff Gordon

“Joe Gibbs Racing has led roughly half the laps this season that they had at this point last year. There is their opportunity to win. If you run up front and lead races, you can win races, but they’ve struggled to stay at the front. All their cars have had speed but not the speed we’re used to seeing on a weekly basis. After all, they set their own mark the past couple of years and established themselves as the standard. If they could just win one race per team, a lot of their problems would disappear because they’d likely be in the playoffs, which is when we oftentimes see them step up their performance.”

--Jeff Hammond

On what stands out at the halfway point in the regular season:

“Certainly the race stages. Stages have added a lot of excitement and changed up the pit strategy this year. Maybe it’s changed up who has won and who hasn’t won thus far. Kyle Larson still has been very impressive, but boy, Martin Truex Jr. and those Toyotas are coming on strong.

--Jeff Gordon

“The first-time winners. Ricky Stenhouse sat on the pole at Talladega and won the race. That was huge for him and that team. Then Austin Dillon won the Coke 600 in the No. 3 for the first time since 2000.”

--Darrell Waltrip

On how many different winners there could be by the end of the regular season:

“Look at the Gibbs cars that haven’t won yet, Kevin Harvick, who hasn’t won yet, and then you start throwing names in there like Jamie McMurray and AJ Allmendinger, who could win on road courses or superspeedways, or Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney. The list starts to get overwhelming. I think it’s going to be 13 or 14 winners this year.”

--Jeff Gordon

“We’ll have 12 winners. If you look at the average over the last 10 years, there should be 12. Four drivers will get in on points and 12 on wins.”

--Darrell Waltrip

On the potential of having the first NASCAR playoffs that excludes some drivers who have won races (due to the number of different winners):

“There are six drivers that won last year but who haven’t won a race yet this year. Plus, guys like Kasey Kahne, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Erik Jones are gunning to get to Victory Lane. There is a lot of potential for us to see the first playoff with drivers who have wins missing the playoffs.”

--Jeff Hammond

FOX NASCAR AT POCONO RACEWAY & TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY PROGRAMMING SCHEDULE

(All times live/Eastern unless otherwise indicated & subject to change)

Friday, June 9

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES practice (11:00 AM-12:30 PM) (FS1)

NASCAR RACE HUB WEEKEND EDITION (12:30-1:00 PM ET) (FS1)

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES practice (1:00-2:00 PM) (FS1)

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES final practice (3:00-4:00 PM) (FS1)

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES qualifying (4:00-5:30 PM) (FS1)

ARCA RACING SERIES (5:30-7:30 PM) (FS1)

NCWTS SETUP from Texas Motor Speedway (7:30-8:00 PM) (FS1)

NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES racing from Texas (8:00-10:00 PM) (FS1)