The Nashville Network, usually referred to as TNN, was an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming included music videos, taped concerts, movies, game shows, syndicated programs, and numerous talk shows. On September 25, 2000, after an attempt to attract younger viewers failed, TNN's country music format was changed and the network was renamed The National Network, and eventually became Spike TV in 2003 and Paramount Network in 2018.
Sprint cars are open-wheel race cars, designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Historically known simply as "big cars," distinguishing them from "midget cars," sprint car racing is popular primarily in the United States and Canada, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.
Speed was an American sports-oriented cable and satellite television network that was owned by the Fox Sports Media Group division of 21st Century Fox. The network was dedicated to motorsports programming, including auto racing, as well as automotive-focused programs.
The American Speed Association (ASA) is a sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States formed in 1968. The Association was based in Pendleton, Indiana, and later in Daytona Beach, Florida. The ASA sanctioned asphalt and dirt tracks in their ASA Member Track program along with racing series in the United States and Canada. The ASA currently sanctions the STARS National Tour, the Midwest Tour, the Southern Super Series and all CRA sanctioned series.
Paul Page is an American motorsports broadcaster who is best known for serving as the play-by-play commentator for the Indianapolis 500 for a total of 50 years across radio and television. Page was the radio Voice of the 500 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network from 1977 to 1987, and again from 2014 to 2015. He served the same role on television in 1988–1998 & 2002–2004.
Motor Racing Network (MRN) is an American radio network that syndicates broadcasts of auto racing events, particularly NASCAR. MRN was founded in 1970 by NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr. and broadcaster Ken Squier, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of NASCAR. Its first broadcast was the 1970 Daytona 500.
The television and radio rights to broadcast NASCAR are among the most expensive broadcast rights of any American sport, with the current television contract with Fox Sports and NBC Sports being worth around US$8 billion.
Martin Reid "Marty" Klingeman, known professionally as Marty Reid, is an American television sportscaster who worked for ESPN from 1982 to 2013, covering motorsports for the network. Reid served as the network's lead IndyCar Series and Indianapolis 500 announcer from 2006 until that year, and did lap-by-lap for ESPN's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series telecasts in 2010.
NASCAR on CBS was the branding formerly used for broadcasts of NASCAR series races produced by CBS Sports, the sports division of the CBS television network in the United States from 1960 to 2000.
Bobby Gerould is an American sports multimedia personality. Gerould was most visible as a pit reporter for World of Outlaws sprint car races telecast on CBS Sports Network, ESPN, Speed, and TNN. Bobby was the public address announcer at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, California from 1997 through 2022. Gerould's voice is featured on the video game, Ratbag World of Outlaws Sprint Cars. In his career, Bobby has been employed in some capacity by nearly every major sanctioning body of American auto-racing, including AMA, ASA, CART, Indycar, King of the West, NARC, NASCAR, National Sprint Tour, NHRA, SCCA, TORC, USAC, and the World of Outlaws.
NASCAR on TNN was the name of a television program that broadcast NASCAR races on The Nashville Network.
ESPN SpeedWorld is a former television series broadcast on ESPN from 1979 to 2006. The program that was based primarily based around NASCAR, CART, IMSA, Formula One, NHRA, and IHRA. The theme music is based on the piano interlude from "18th Avenue " by Cat Stevens.
William Weyman Stephens Jr., known professionally as Bill Stephens is an American network television host, commentator, and narrator specializing in automotive and motorsports presentations. He is a nationally published author of several motorsports books and a columnist for a number of automotive periodicals. He is a television producer and writer for various automotive television programs, a professional vehicle appraiser, and a communications consultant providing media training for motorsports personalities and vocal and listening skills training for business people at all levels of the corporate world.
National Trail Raceway is a quarter-mile dragstrip located between Hebron and Kirkersville, Ohio, USA, off of U.S. Route 40. The race track is located about 30 minutes east of Columbus, Ohio. It is known to local residents as 'National Trails'.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series is a drag racing series organized by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). It is the top competition series of the NHRA, comprising competition in four classes, including Top Fuel Dragster, Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle.
TNN Motor Sports was a sports programming block on The Nashville Network from the network's launch in 1983 to 2000. TNN Motor Sports specialized in coverage of motorsports of various formats, most commonly auto racing. From 2000 to 2003, the network expanded its offerings to include alternative professional football and rebranded the block as TNN Sports. The block shut down in TNN's 2003 rebranding as Spike TV.
The 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Season was announced on September 5, 2015.
Steve Evans was an American motorsports broadcaster with a career that spanned four decades.
As time passed, more Winston Cup races ended up on TV. ESPN broadcast its first race in 1981, from North Carolina Motor Speedway, and TNN followed in 1991. All Cup races were nationally televised by 1985; networks struck individual deals with track owners, and multiple channels carried racing action. Many races were shown taped and edited on Wide World of Sports and syndication services like Mizlou and SETN, but almost all races were live by 1989. By 2000, the last year of this arrangement, six networks televised at least one Cup series race: CBS, ABC, ESPN, TNN, TBS, and NBC.
Until 2001, race tracks struck individual agreements with networks to broadcast races, but NASCAR wanted to capitalize on the growing popularity of the sport and announced in 1999 that television contracts would now be centralized; that is, instead of making agreements with individual tracks, networks would now negotiate directly with NASCAR for the rights to air a package of races.
