Stewart Wins the First Race of the Weekend ... Kinda

Championship contenders Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch took part in a race of a different sort today.  And Stewart came out on top.

The race took place at the ESPN campus in Bristol, Conn. where the guys competed against each other with radio-controlled cars on an outside oval track. The trio raced for five laps, with Stewart taking the win.  Gordon finished second and Busch came in third after rollling his car while trying to catch Smoke on the last lap. 

Guess some things never change.

Highlights of the five-lapper were shown on the network's NASCAR Now.

But this weekend's real deal will take place at at 1 p.m. Sunday when ESPN televises the first race of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship from New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
In the meantime, here are a few highlights from the group's appearance on ESPN's NASCAR Now.

Gordon, Busch and Stewart race to the finish.



Kyle Busch visits the ESPN campus.



Stewart shows off his winning car.



Big Week for NASCAR Now with Exclusive Pearson Interview, Hall of Fame Opening

On Tuesday, May 11, ESPN's NASCAR Now expands to an hour and originates from the grand opening of the new NASCAR Hall of Fame. Host Mike Massaro and other reporters will speak with many of the special guests attending the historic day for the much-anticipated opening of the 150,000-square foot facility.

On Wednesday, NASCAR Now airs an exclusive interview with two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Larry Pearson, who is recovering from serious injuries suffered in a crash during a race for retired NASCAR stars at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 20. In his first interview since the crash, an emotional Pearson speaks with ESPN’s Dr. Jerry Punch about what happened in the crash, the long and difficult road to recovery he faces and how the crash has changed his outlook on life.

NASCAR Now continues its month-long series on NASCAR fans in the one-hour weekend edition airing Sunday, May 16 at 9 a.m. The program also will preview that day’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Dover International Speedway. The segments on fans will air in the weekend edition each week during May.

Featured in the May 16 show will be Patrick Hickey, a nursing professor at the University of South Carolina who also is an accomplished mountain climber. Hickey has scaled the seven summits of the world, an eight-year quest that included the highest mountain on each of the seven continents.

His task was completed when he took a NASCAR flag to the top of Mt. Everest and managed to time it for May 24, matching the number of his favorite NASCAR driver, Jeff Gordon. Hickey and other fans featured in the NASCAR Now series are subjects in the recently-released book “The Weekend Starts on Wednesday” by Andrew Giangola.

NASCAR Now Returns Next Week

ESPN2’s daily NASCAR news and information program NASCAR Now returns for its fourth season on Monday, Feb. 1, at 5 p.m., to coincide with the beginning of the 2010 NASCAR season.

With hosts Nicole Briscoe, Mike Massaro and Allen Bestwick, NASCAR Now originates from ESPN’s high definition studios in Bristol, Conn., with reporters and analysts checking in from locations around the country wherever NASCAR news is happening. In addition to reports from races, NASCAR Now reporters also visit race shops and special events.

The program regularly airs at 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, with all weekday programs 30 minutes except for a one-hour Monday roundtable discussion edition with ESPN analysts and reporters. ESPN2 also airs an hour-long edition at 9 a.m. on the morning of each NASCAR Sprint Cup race, and a weekend wrap-up edition will begin in July.

NASCAR Now will originate from Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla., site of the NASCAR season-opening Daytona 500, with special hour-long programs Feb. 8-14. Massaro will host the first week of episodes beginning Feb. 1, with Briscoe reporting from Daytona starting Feb. 4.

The first two weeks of the program will include a focus on the top 10 teams in the sport, looking back at the 2009 season and looking ahead to 2010 with predictions from ESPN analysts. In addition, the first week of the program will feature drivers of the decades, starting on Feb. 1 with drivers from the 1960s.

Photo courtesy of ESPN

More Chase, More NASCAR Now

Mike Massaro and the folks at NASCAR Now are heading to Chase Media Day in NYC. The show's Thursday night broadcast will be a jam-packed hour stuffed with anything and everything you need to know about the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

The expanded one-hour episode airs Thursday, Sept. 17, at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN2. Host Massaro will preview the Chase with driver interviews from New York , while members of the Roush Fenway Racing team and some guests from the Boston Red Sox will be interviewed from Boston during the hour as well.

So if you still can't get enough Chase, then be sure to catch the show Thursday night.

Photo: Mike Massaro, courtesy of ESPN