Thursday Night Thunder | |
---|---|
Also known as | Saturday Night Thunder (1990-2002) |
Genre | Auto racing telecasts |
Starring | Allen Bestwick Joey Logano Conor Daly Darrell Waltrip Matt Yocum |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Production location | Various SRX venues |
Camera setup | Multi-camera |
Running time | 1 to 2 hours (depends on Live or Tape Delay event) |
Original release | |
Network | ESPN |
Release | May 11, 1989 – November 30, 2002 |
Release | July 13 – August 17, 2023 |
Thursday Night Thunder/Saturday Night Thunder is a motorsports anthology series that was originally broadcast by ESPN and ESPN2 from 1989 to 2002. The program featured coverage of short track events from dirt and paved oval tracks around the United States (primarily around the Indianapolis area), including USAC Silver Crown, midget, and sprint car races. [1] [2]
Jeff Gordon was introduced to midget racing via Thursday Night Thunder. He made appearances in races televised by the program before pursuing a NASCAR career. [2] [3] On July 21, 1990, Rich Vogler was killed in a fatal crash during the final lap of a USAC event on Saturday Night Thunder from Salem Speedway. As Vogler led the last completed lap before the red flag was called, Vogler was also posthumously declared the winner of the race. [4] In 1993, ESPN broadcast the Fast Masters —a series of races involving retired drivers—via the program. [5]
In December 2022, ESPN acquired the rights to Tony Stewart's Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) series, replacing CBS Sports. It was concurrently announced that the events would air on Thursday nights, and that ESPN would revive the Thursday Night Thunder branding for the broadcasts. [6] [7]
Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. is an American former racing driver who competed in numerous disciplines of motorsport. He is best known for his open wheel racing career, and for becoming the first four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500. He holds the most American National Championship titles in history, winning seven.
Anthony Wayne Stewart, nicknamed "Smoke", is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, and former NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing. He also competes in NHRA. He is a four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, winning two as a driver, one as owner/driver (2011), and one as an owner (2014).
Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park is an auto racing facility in Brownsburg, Indiana, about 10 miles (16 km) northwest of downtown Indianapolis. It includes a 0.686 mi (1.104 km) oval track, a 2.500 mi (4.023 km) road course, and a 4,400-foot (1,300 m) drag strip which is among the premier drag racing venues in the world. The complex receives about 500,000 visitors annually.
The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapolis 500. USAC serves as the sanctioning body for a number of racing series, including the Silver Crown Series, National Sprint Cars, National Midgets, Speed2 Midget Series, .25 Midget Series, Stadium Super Trucks, and Pirelli World Challenge. Seven-time USAC champion Levi Jones is USAC's Competition Director.
Steve Butler is an American former auto racing driver. He won six national driving championships in USAC Sprint Car and Silver Crown open-wheel racing. Butler was highly regarded for his technical skills and performed chief mechanic duties on several of his winning race cars. He also communicated his view of racing to fans both as author and television commentator. Despite a relatively brief racing career (1981–1993), Butler is an inductee into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame, the USAC Hall of Fame, and the Hoosier Auto Racing Fan's Hall of Fame. He retired at age 37 to pursue both an engineering career and more time with his growing family. Butler currently resides in Kokomo, IN.
Eldora Speedway is a 0.5 mi (804.672 m) high-banked clay dirt oval. Located north of Rossburg, Ohio in the village of New Weston, Ohio, its website claims capacity for 22,886 spectators in the permanent grandstand, and unlimited admittance for the grass hillside spectator area. The permanent grandstand and VIP suite seats make it the largest sports stadium in the Dayton, Ohio-region according to the Dayton Business Journal.
Ascot Park, first named Los Angeles Speedway and later New Ascot Stadium, was a dirt racetrack located near Gardena, California. Ascot Park was open between 1957 and 1990. The track held numerous United States Auto Club (USAC) national tour races and three NASCAR Grand National races. The Turkey Night Grand Prix was held at the track for several decades.
Richard Frank Vogler was an American champion sprint car and midget car driver. He was nicknamed "Rapid Rich". He competed in the Indianapolis 500 five times, and his best finish was eighth in 1989.
Duane Claude Carter Jr., nicknamed "Pancho," is an American retired open-wheel racing driver. Best known for his participation in Championship car racing, he won the pole position for the 1985 Indianapolis 500, and won the Michigan 500 in 1981.
David MacFarland Steele was an American professional racing driver who won numerous sprint car racing championships and also competed in IndyCar and NASCAR races. Steele last drove a winged sprint car in the Southern Sprintcar Shootout Series, where he won the first 5 races in series history. Steele was killed in a crash at Desoto Speedway on March 25, 2017.
Salem Speedway is a 0.555 mi (0.893 km) long paved oval racetrack in Washington Township, Washington County, near Salem, Indiana, United States, approximately 100 miles (160 km) south of Indianapolis. The track has 33° degrees of banking in the corners. Major auto racing series that run at Salem are ARCA and USAC.
Larry Rice was an American racing driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series. He was the 1973 USAC National midget driver's champion and won the USAC Silver Crown series in 1977 and 1981. He was inducted in the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1993.
Bryan Timothy Clauson was an American professional auto racing driver, best known for his achievements in dirt track open-wheel racing, such as USAC Silver Crown, Midget and Sprint cars. Clauson was increasingly seen competing with the World of Outlaws (WoO) sprint cars in his last couple of years. Clauson also competed in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, Indy Lights, and IndyCar Series and was a development driver for Chip Ganassi Racing.
Terre Haute Action Track is a half-mile dirt racetrack located at the Vigo County, Indiana, fairgrounds on U.S. Route 41 along the south side of Terre Haute, Indiana. The track hosts annual United States Automobile Club (USAC) midget car, sprint car and Silver Crown events. Notable drivers that have competed at the track include A. J. Foyt, Jeff Gordon, Parnelli Jones, and Tony Stewart. The track has held events sanctioned by USAC, its predecessor American Automobile Association (AAA), and the World of Outlaws.
The Dave Steele Carb Night Classic is a United States Auto Club dirt track car race held near Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, which takes place in late May before the Indianapolis 500 at the nearby Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Over its history, the event has been held at several different short tracks in Indiana, but since 1980, it has permanently been hosted at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in Brownsburg, Indiana. The event has long been considered one of the Indianapolis 500 traditions, along with the Hoosier Hundred and Little 500, which are also held over the same weekend at different venues in Indiana. Over the course of its history, numerous Indy 500 drivers have competed in the Night Before the 500, some winning.
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.
Dakoda Armstrong is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 28 Toyota Camry for JGL Racing.
Jeffery Michael "Jeff" Gordon is an American professional auto racing driver who competed in the NASCAR Cup Series over a 25-year career. He was born in Vallejo, California to Carol Houston and Billy Gordon; the couple separated a few months later. Gordon's mother then married John Bickford, a car builder and parts supplier.
The 2018 USAC P1 Insurance National Midget Championship is the 63rd season of the Midget series sanctioned by USAC. P1 Insurance becomes the new title sponsor of the series for 2018. The season will begin with the Shamrock Classic at Southern Illinois Center on March 10, and will end with the Turkey Night Grand Prix at Ventura Raceway on November 22. The series will also have a non points race with the Junior Knepper 55 at Southern Illinois Center on December 15. Spencer Bayston enters the season as the defending champion.
Superstar Racing Experience (SRX), officially known as the Camping World SRX Series, is an American stock car racing series founded by Tony Stewart, Ray Evernham, Sandy Montag and George Pyne. The formation of the series was announced on July 13, 2020, and debuted on June 12, 2021, televised on CBS on Saturday nights.