Motor Racing Network Set For Season Debut

Motor Racing Network will dedicate 25 hours of coverage to the Rolex 24 at Daytona later this month to help launch its 44^th year on the airwaves. 

The season-opening event of the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series is the first of 82 race broadcasts on MRN’s 2013 schedule, which will originate from 32 different venues including Daytona International Speedway. The 51^st running of the Rolex 24 is set for Jan. 26-27. Six hours of coverage will air on MRN’s network of affiliate stations starting at 3 p.m. (EST) on Saturday, Jan. 26, and concluding with the closing laps and post-race coverage from 1-4 p.m. on Jan. 27. Eli Gold and Preston Root will anchor the broadcast. All 25 hours will be streamed live at www.motorracingnetwork.com. 

The legendary Dan Gurney won the first running of the twice-around-the-clock sports car classic in 1962. MRN debuted eight years later, evolving into “The Voice of NASCAR,” and is now beginning its fourth year providing live coverage of the entire 12-race GRAND-AM Series. Programming from “The World Center of Racing” will be produced by Ryan Horn and Amanda Trautman. 

“This will be a first for the network – producing and staffing the entire 24 hours of the race ourselves,” said MRN President and Executive Producer David Hyatt. “I’ve always said this is the best team in motor sports. It’s a big undertaking and I know we will meet the challenge.” 

The overnight hours of the broadcast will feature Mike Bagley and Jeff Striegle in the booth from midnight to 3 a.m. on Jan. 27, with Kyle Rickey and Buddy Long picking up the next three hours. Gold and Root will return at 6 a.m. on Sunday. 

Long and Ricky will also cover the action in the turns around the 3.56-mile circuit. Pit reporters are Tony Rizzuti, Alex Hayden, Jason Toy and Woody Cain. 

Following the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Motor Racing Network’s 2013 broadcast schedule will continue Feb. 8 with exclusive radio coverage of the fourth annual NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony from Charlotte, N.C. This year’s class is comprised of Buck Baker, Cotton Owens, Herb Thomas, Rusty Wallace and Leonard Wood. 

Eight days later, the network will kick off Budweiser Speedweeks with its broadcast of the Sprint Unlimited at Daytona season-opening non-points race for Sprint Cup Series drivers (formerly known as the Budweiser Shootout). It’ll be the first of six race broadcasts MRN will feature over a nine-day period culminating with the 55^th running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 24.

MRN’s Speedweeks slate includes start-to-finish coverage of Daytona 500 qualifying on Feb. 17, when the front row will be set for “The Great American Race.” Carl Edwards is bidding to become the first driver to win back-to-back Daytona 500 poles since Ken Schrader put three in a row together from 1988-1990.

MRN’s 2013 schedule also will feature coverage of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race in May from Charlotte Motor Speedway and the year-end Awards Ceremony in Las Vegas. June and September will be the busiest months with 12 races scheduled in each. 

There will be two weekends during which the network will feature a motor sports tripleheader in a single day. On Saturday, Aug. 17, there will be GRAND-AM racing from Kansas Speedway, the Camping World Truck Series at Michigan International Speedway and Nationwide Series competition at Mid-Ohio.

On Saturday, Sept. 28, MRN microphones will be at Lime Rock Park (GRAND-AM), Dover International Speedway (Nationwide Series) and Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Camping World Trucks). 

Motor Racing Network will provide live coverage of seven of the 10 races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup – beginning Sept. 15 at Chicagoland Speedway and ending with Ford Championship Weekend Nov. 15-17 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. 

Motor Racing Network / Live coverage of the 51^st Rolex 24 at Daytona (All times EST)

Saturday, Jan. 26
3-5 p.m. Radio & Web Streaming
5-9 p.m. Web Only
9-9:30 p.m. Radio & Web
9:30 p.m. – 12 a.m. Web Only

Sunday, Jan. 27

12 a.m. – 9 a.m. Web Only
9-9:30 a.m. Radio & Web
9:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. Web Only
1-4 p.m. Radio & Web