From left, Andy Petree, Rusty Wallace and Dr. Jerry Punch will be the voices of NASCAR on ESPN and ABC over the next several seasons. Credit: ESPN

ESPN/ABC unveils NASCAR broadcast team

Petree to join Punch, Rusty in booth; Musburger to host pre-race

ESPN/ABC's NASCAR broadcast team will have a combination of veterans and rookies in it when the networks return to NASCAR next season.

In the booth, Rusty Wallace, who it was announced late last year will serve as lead analyst, will be joined by veteran racing voice Dr. Jerry Punch and former Cup team owner Andy Petree.

Kenny Wallace Credit: Autostock

STAYING PUT Jimmy Spencer and Kenny Wallace have signed new multi-year contracts that will keep them with SPEED Channel.  Both former drivers will keep their roles on "NASCAR RaceDay" and "NASCAR Victory Lane."  "This show has really been adapted to fit the fans," Spencer said. "I'm happy to be staying with SPEED and I'm excited about being a part of the growth of this show. It doesn't get better than working with John [Roberts], Kenny, Wendy [Venturini] and Bobby Dillner. "  Wallace, never one to be at a loss for words, agrees.  "I've had so much fun doing 'NASCAR RaceDay' and 'NASCAR Victory Lane' that I could not pass up the opportunity given to me by SPEED," Wallace said. "SPEED has become a part of who I am and what I am known for over the last three years. I am very thankful for the opportunity that has been given to me and I hope that the fans continue to have fun and support all of the wonderful SPEED shows."  ALSO •   Hoop star Daugherty joins ESPN/ABC broadcast team

Television veteran Brent Musburger will be the featured host of the networks' pre-race show, which will precede all Nextel Cup Series and Busch Series races televised on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC.

Musburger will host pre-race coverage for all races airing on ABC, including the Chase for the Nextel Cup and select ESPN races including the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.

Dave Burns and Allen Bestwick, who currently serve as pit reporters on TNT/NBC's coverage of NASCAR, will join Jamie Little and Mike Massaro on pit road for ESPN/ABC's coverage.

Little currently serves as a pit reporter for ESPN/ABC's IRL coverage and Massaro is currently ESPN's NASCAR field reporter.

For Punch, a veteran of ESPN's previous relationship with NASCAR and its current relationship with the IRL, moves from pit road to the broadcast booth. It's the culmination of a dream he's had for many, many years.

"I guess I have to pinch myself," he said. "I don't know how Lassie felt, but I can tell you personally it's great to be home."

And while everything Thursday seemed to be about the future, Punch took a second to give a nod to the ESPN's NASCAR past.

"I want to take a few seconds and remember where we came from," he said. "There are a lot of people who worked very hard to lay the foundation for us years ago.

"If it weren't for those people years ago, we wouldn't have a chance to come back with the relationship we have with the fans and with NASCAR."

For Wallace, who has spent the bulk of this season covering the IRL, next year represents a chance for him to go back to what he knows.

"I'm real excited," Wallace said. "We've assembled a great team here. I've had a year under my belt working with Indy Racing League. It's an amazing series and I learned a ton. I learned television. But I'm coming back to NASCAR, which I know more about. I feel like I understand the sport and I can bring a different perspective to it.

"I'm very excited to be involved in it."

Petree, a former team owner and the 1993-94 championship-winning crew chief for the late Dale Earnhardt, will make his debut in the booth next year. He said Thursday that he's ready to learn.

"I just feel extremely lucky," he said. "It's a dream come true for me. It's something new for me and I'm going to work very hard at it."

As announced late last year, ESPN2 will also broadcast the complete Busch Series schedule. Dale Jarrett will also join the booth for selected Busch Series races.

ESPN2 will also broadcast a daily NASCAR news program. The show will feature former SPEED personality Shannon Spake, crew chief Frankie Stoddard and five-time NBA All-Star and former race-winning NASCAR team owner Brad Daugherty.

For Daugherty, who went to Victory Lane with Robert Pressley as a car owner in the Busch Series and was a co-founder of the NASCAR Diversity Council with Brian France many years ago, becoming a NASCAR host is not only a chance to increase minority interest in NASCAR, but to be able to do something in NASCAR that's unusual.

"I look at this a little differently than the journalistic points of view or even the technical point of view," he said. "I'll be able to speak to the sport as a fan and ask the questions that maybe the guy sitting on his couch would ask."