Ever tune to Speed Friday, Saturday or Sunday during the NASCAR season?

It’s round-the-clock, wall-to-wall coverage of America’s most popular motorsport. Not that there’s anything wrong with this.

But if I were a NASCAR managment team member, I’d wonder if my sport was oversaturing the media market. After all, it’s hard to flip on the channel Monday through Thursday and not view a NASCAR-related program.

During the previous few years a 24-hour 7-days-a-week auto racing network hasn’t been the only place to satisfy an auto racing hunger.

FX Network televised “NASCAR Drivers: 360” in 2004 and 2005, which coincided with the latter half of the FOX/FX NASCAR broadcast schedule. The hour-long mini-series, so to speak, profiled at least three drivers during a Nextel Cup or Busch Series weekend.

The premise: Give viewers behind-the-scenes views of what drivers do between race weekends and how they perform in individual races. The episode’s first half showed drivers away from the track, usually with family and friends. The second half detailed how the drivers performed in their races.

The show was great because regardless if fans have up-close-and-personal access to drivers at race tracks, a driver’s softer side was shown when he was away from the track.

No word yet if there’s going to be “Drivers: 360” season three.

It’s known, however, that a television program similar to “Drivers: 360” begins airing on an unlikley channel to air NASCAR-related programs: The Biography Channel.

“NASCAR Driven to Win” is an original series that offers a driver’s glimpse of life both on and off the track, focusing predominantly on younger drivers striving to become part of the NASCAR elite. Like “Drivers: 360,” team owners, crew members, friends and family appear on screen during the 13 30-minute epsides.

“Driven ...” premieres 9 p.m. Wednesday with a profile of Kasey Kahne, the 2004 Cup Rookie of the Year. Last season’s Cup Rookie of the Year, Kyle Busch, is profiled a half-hour later.

Other driver profiles scheduled are Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Martin Truex Jr., Jamie McMurray, Brian Vickers, Casey Mears, Erin Crocker, Rusty and Stephen Wallace, Chris Bristol, Aric Almirola, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, David Stremme and Reed Sorenson.



Alltel unveils podcast

Attention Ryan Newman fans: Alltel — Newman’s primary sponsor for his Nexel Cup No. 12 Dodge — recently launched a motorsports podcast available weekly during the 2006 Cup season at www.alltelracing.com.

The Alltel Racing Podcast includes a recap of the previous week’s race including analysis, commentary on NASCAR’s hot topics, emerging trends in the sport and an upcoming race preview from Newman’s crew chief Matt Borland.



Brian Sargent writes for the Norman (Okla.) Transcript. Contact him by e-mail at bsargent@normantranscript.com