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NASCAR Studios Launches Three New Shows to Debut for Playoffs; Talent Headlined by Veteran Broadcasters Shannon Spake and Steve Letarte

  • “NASCAR Inside the Playoffs” – a weekly show with Spake, Letarte, Dylan ‘Mamba’ Smith, Jordan Bianchi and rotating driver panelists – Thursdays at 7 p.m. ET on truTV and Max
  • “NASCAR Daily” – a short, digital news and opinion show hosted by Spake, with regular guest appearances – weekday mornings at 10 a.m. ET on YouTube
  • “Drop the Jack” – a video podcast featuring Mamba and pit crew athletes Derrell Edwards, Paul Swan, Michael Hicks and Jorden Paige – Thursday afternoons on YouTube/podcast platforms

Daytona Beach, Fla. (Sept. 4, 2024) – Between the action-packed racing of America’s No. 1 motorsport each weekend, NASCAR Studios will provide fans additional entertainment and insights throughout the 2024 NASCAR Playoffs with the launch of three new shows: NASCAR Inside the Playoffs (truTV and Max), NASCAR Daily (YouTube) and Drop the Jack (YouTube and podcast platforms).

“NASCAR fans are the most passionate in the world and we want to deliver them quality options for additional entertainment, insight and analysis,” said John Dahl, NASCAR Senior VP of Content. “These new shows are a great complement to our existing options for NASCAR fans today, with popular media talent, industry insiders and rising voices eager to entertain and educate race fans however they prefer to consume content.”

“This is going to be so much fun,” said Spake, who adds to a remarkable national broadcasting resume that spans more than two decades and multiple sports for networks including SPEED, ESPN and FOX Sports. “I get to talk about the sport I have been a part of for 20 years in two totally different settings, alongside some of my greatest friends and most respected peers in the industry. The fans have been so good to me over the years, and I’m excited to take them further inside the action of the postseason while staying up to speed on some of the fun and entertaining things unfolding away from the track.”

A rundown of the three new shows is below:

NASCAR Inside the Playoffs

  • Thursdays, 7-8 p.m. ET on truTV and streaming on Max – Debuts Thursday, Sept. 5

NASCAR’s partnership with TNT Sports gets a head start before 2025 broadcast rights begin with the new weekly studio show NASCAR Inside the Playoffs, which will dissect the evolving postseason action through an unfiltered lens. The show is hosted by beloved veteran broadcasters Shannon Spake and Steve Letarte, along with up-and-coming media talent Dylan ‘Mamba’ Smith. A rotating fourth voice of current and former drivers will join each week, beginning with two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch in the first two episodes. Jordan Bianchi, NASCAR reporter for The Athletic, will join to cover breaking news.

NASCAR Daily

  • Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. ET on YouTube and podcast platforms – Debuts Monday, Sept. 9

Balancing breaking news with entertaining conversation, Spake will infuse her perspective while welcoming regular guest appearances from drivers, industry personalities and other contributors in episodes running approximately 10 minutes every weekday morning. The show will also introduce a rotation of recurring segments that put a spotlight on different aspects of NASCAR and the fan experience, including checking in on the latest social media chatter, and a weekly sports betting segment featuring analyst Erica Renee Davis.

Drop the Jack

  • Thursdays, 3 p.m. ET on YouTube and podcast platforms – Debuts Thursday, Sept. 5

A new addition to the NASCAR podcast universe, Drop the Jack provides some of the Cup Series’ best pit crew athletes and other industry veterans a platform to engage in compelling conversations about the full spectrum of life at and away from the race track. Mamba Smith – a former full-time aspiring NASCAR driver turned rising media personality – will help guide these entertaining and emotional discussions with pit crew athletes Derrell Edwards, Michael Hicks, Jorden Paige and Paul Swan along with special guests.

Execution of all three shows will run through the new NASCAR Productions home in Concord, N.C. NASCAR opened its new 58,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art production facility earlier this year as it continues to invest significantly in original content and live production capabilities for the league and its stakeholders.

The 10-race, 16-driver NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs begin this Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

About NASCAR Studios

NASCAR Studios is the dedicated hub for developing world-class, on-demand content and dynamic storytelling executions on behalf of America’s No. 1 form of motorsports, including driver-focused social content, original documentaries, series, short films and features, as well as branded content, studio shows and podcasts. Credited projects include the 2024 Netflix docuseries NASCAR: Full Speed, USA Network’s Race for The Championship, the Sports-Emmy-Award-Winning Netflix documentary RACE: Bubba Wallace, and more.

About NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 14 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR sanctions races in three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR Xfinity Series™, and NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series™), four international series (NASCAR Brasil Series, NASCAR Canada Series, NASCAR Mexico Series, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series), four regional series (ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East & West and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour) and a local grassroots series (NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series). The International Motor Sports Association™ (IMSA®) governs the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship™, the premier U.S. sports car series. NASCAR also owns Motor Racing Network, Racing Electronics, and ONE DAYTONA. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, with offices in five cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races annually in 11 countries and more than 30 U.S. states.

For more information visit http://www.NASCAR.com and http://www.IMSA.com, and follow NASCAR on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, X, TikTok and Snapchat.