NASCAR Greats Earnhardt, Gordon, Stewart Among Lineup

SPEED Channel will begin airing a series of one-hour specials on the Michael Waltrip Celebrity Poker Tournament shot earlier this year at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas. The eight-part series rolls out April 7 at 9 p.m. ET, with the two-hour tournament finale scheduled to air June 2 at 8 p.m. ET.

Players in the popular Texas Hold'em tournament include NASCAR's Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Benny Parsons, Casey Mears, Brian Vickers, Ryan Newman, Kyle Petty, Elliott and Dale Jarrett.

"Poker is, in and of itself, a blast," said Rick Miner, SPEED Channel Sr. VP of Programming/Production and Executive Producer. "But when you take the sometimes volatile combination of arguably NASCAR's hottest personalities, mix them up in a city like Las Vegas, with Michael Waltrip as the host -- well, let's just say, whatever happened in Vegas won't stay in Vegas. It will all be on SPEED Channel."

SPEED Channel put up the $100,000 prize money, with half going to Petty's Victory Junction Gang Camp through Waltrip's "Operation Marathon" and the other half going to the charity of the winner's choice.

SPEED broadcast schedule:

April 7 (9 p.m. ET, 1 hour)
April 14 (9 p.m. ET, 1 hour)
April 28 (9 p.m. ET, 1 hour)
May 5 (9 p.m. ET, 1 hour)
May 12 (9 p.m. ET, 1 hour)
May 19 (9 p.m. ET, 1 hour)
June 2 (8 p.m. ET, 2 hours)