Extended Pre-Race Show Will Offer Inside Scoop, Highlights, Interviews & Features

SPEED has expanded its LIVE coverage of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Beginning Aug. 4 at 8 p.m., ET, this new pre-race show will open the Power Stroke Diesel 200 broadcast by delving into the behind-the-scenes stories and unique personalities that make up the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

Veteran NCTS reporter Ray Dunlap will host the 45-minute show, taking viewers up to green-flag action. Bob Dillner and Krista Voda will scour the pits for an inside line on what's happening in the garage area. The show also will provide in-depth interviews, racing highlights and interesting features in and around the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

"I want our audience to really get to know the characters and stories behind the great racing," said Chris Long, SPEED VP of studio productions. "People watch sports because they have a vested interest in how their favorite team or hero is faring in the heat of battle. Just like the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is made up of very interesting and colorful personalities. This new pre-race show will allow us to uncover all of these stories.

"This will be one of the many changes happening with our NASCAR on SPEED coverage as we head into 2007," Long continued. "We are continuing to expand our depth, preparing us for next season, when SPEED broadcasts the 2007 NASCAR Gatorade Duel at Daytona and NASCAR All-Star Challenge at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte."

LIVE race coverage from Indianapolis will be led by play-by-play announcer Rick Allen, voice of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series on SPEED, while color will be provided by Nextel Cup Series pilot Michael Waltrip and former driver Phil Parsons. Dunlap and Voda will continue to report from pit road.

"I love the Truck Series," Dunlap said. "There's a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes of every NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race. This will be a great opportunity to see how creative everyone is, and to get a sense of the great stories and characters behind what their seeing."

Heading into Indianapolis, the top nine drivers in points are separated by less than 300 points. New York's Todd Bodine leads the way, despite a frustrating evening in the most recent event at Memphis (Tenn.) Motorsports Park. Indianapolis traditionally is the starting point for the final run to a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship.

SPEED, celebrating its 10th Anniversary in 2006, is the nation's first and foremost cable network dedicated to motor sports and the passion for everything automotive. >From racing to restoration, motorcycles to movies, SPEED delivers quality programming from the track to the garage. Now available in more than 71 million homes in North America, SPEED is among the fastest growing sports cable networks in the country and an industry leader in interactive TV, video on demand, mobile initiatives and broadband services.