Viewer's Guide: Las Vegas

The Nextel Cup Series returns this week at Las Vegas, but the biggest changes to the television schedule take place in the Busch Series.

For the first time this season Busch Series qualifying will air on SPEED, with the Sam's Town 300 lineup being set at 8 p.m. ET, Friday. That immediately follows Nextel Cup Series qualifying, also on SPEED, at 6 p.m. ET.

• NASCAR on SPEED click here

ABC is your place for Busch Series coverage on Saturday, beginning with NASCAR Countdown at 2:30 p.m. ET. Shortly after 3 p.m., LVMS chaplain Kenny Farmer will deliver the invocation, followed by the singing of the national anthem by Darryl Worley. The starting command is scheduled for 3:08 p.m. with the green flag set to wave at 3:16 p.m.

The race will be called by ESPN personalities and will be re-aired on ESPN2 at 3 a.m. ET, Sunday and on ESPN Deportes at 4 a.m. ET, Sunday.

After the Busch race fans can flip over to SPEED for Nextel Cup Happy Hour. The final UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 practice can be seen on a tape-delayed basis at 5:30 p.m. ET. It's the only practice session in either series that will be broadcast this weekend.

On Sunday, ESPN's NASCAR Now at 10 a.m. ET and SPEED's NASCAR RaceDay at noon set the tone for Cup racing. FOX is on the air from Vegas at 4 p.m. ET. Farmer will deliver the invocation at 4:30 p.m., followed by the national anthem, to be sung by Phantom of the Opera star Sierra Boggess. John Byers will give the starting command at 4:38 p.m. ET, with the green flag scheduled for 4:46 p.m.

This week's featured drivers on DirecTV NASCAR HotPass are Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne, Denny Hamlin, Dale Jarrett and Carl Edwards.

For the second consecutive week there isn't a Craftsman Truck Series race. The series returns next week at Atlanta.

WEEKEND PROGRAMMING

Show: NASCAR Live
Network: SPEED
Time: 4 p.m. ET, Friday
Host: Steve Byrnes

Show: Trackside
Network: SPEED
Time: 5 p.m. ET, Friday; Re-airs: 3:30 a.m. ET, Saturday
Host: Steve Byrnes
Analysts: Larry McReynolds, Jeff Hammond, Elliott Sadler

Show: NASCAR Performance
Network: SPEED
Time: 6:30 p.m. ET, Saturday; Re-airs: 8 a.m. ET, Sunday; 1 p.m. ET, Sunday
Host: Larry McReynolds
Analysts: Chad Knaus, Bootie Barker

Show: NASCAR Now
Network: ESPN2
Time: 10 a.m. ET, Sunday (New shows air weekdays at 6:30 p.m. ET)
Hosts: Erik Kuselias, Doug Banks
Analysts: Tim Brewer, Stacy Compton, Brad Daughtery
Reporters: Tim Cowlishaw, Mike Massaro, Marty Smith, Angelique Chengelis, Shannon Spake, D.J. Copp

Show: Tradin' Paint
Network: SPEED
Time: 7 p.m. ET, Saturday; Re-airs: 1:30 p.m. ET, Sunday
Host: John Roberts
Analyst: Michael Waltrip

Show: NASCAR RaceDay
Network: SPEED
Time: 2 p.m. ET, Sunday
Host: John Roberts
Analysts: Jimmy Spencer, Kenny Wallace
Reporters: Wendy Venturini, Bob Dillner

Show: NASCAR Victory Lane
Network: SPEED
Time: 8 p.m. ET, Sunday; Re-airs: 11 p.m. ET, Sunday; 4 a.m. ET, Monday; 9 a.m. ET, Monday
Host: John Roberts
Analysts: Jimmy Spencer, Kenny Wallace
Reporter: Wendy Venturini

RACE COVERAGE

• BUSCH SERIES

Event: Sam's Town 300 qualifying
Network: SPEED
Time: 8 p.m. ET, Friday
Lead Announcer: Mike Joy
Hosts: Dave Despain, Jeff Hammond
Analysts: Larry McReynolds, Darrell Waltrip
Pit Reporters: Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum, Krista Voda

Event: NASCAR Countdown
Network: ABC
Time: 2:30 p.m. ET, Saturday
Hosts: Brent Musburger, Chris Fowler
Analysts: Tim Brewer, Brad Daugherty
Reporter: Shannon Spake

Event: Sam's Town 300
Network: ABC; Re-airs 3 a.m. ET, Sunday on ESPN2 and 4 a.m. ET, Sunday on ESPN Deportes
Time: 3 p.m. ET, Saturday
Green Flag: 3:16 p.m. ET, Saturday
Lead Announcer: Jerry Punch
Analysts: Rusty Wallace, Andy Petree
Pit Reporters: Allen Bestwick, Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Mike Massaro

• NEXTEL CUP SERIES

Event: UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 qualifying
Network: SPEED
Time: 6 p.m. ET, Friday
Lead Announcer: Mike Joy
Hosts: Dave Despain, Jeff Hammond
Analysts: Larry McReynolds, Darrell Waltrip
Pit Reporters: Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum, Krista Voda

Event: UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 Happy Hour
Network: SPEED
Time: 5:30 p.m. ET, Saturday (Tape Delay)
Hosts: Dave Despain, Jeff Hammond
Lead Announcer: Mike Joy
Analysts: Larry McReynolds, Darrell Waltrip
Pit Reporters: Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum, Krista Voda

Event: UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400
Network: FOX
Time: 4 p.m. ET, Sunday
Green Flag: 4:46 p.m. ET, Sunday
Hosts: Chris Myers, Jeff Hammond
Lead Announcer: Mike Joy
Analysts: Larry McReynolds, Darrell Waltrip
Pit Reporters: Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum, Krista Voda

• DIRECTV NASCAR HOTPASS

Driver Mix: Channel 794
Kurt Busch: Channel 795
Kasey Kahne: Channel 796
Denny Hamlin: Channel 797
Dale Jarrett: Channel 798
Carl Edwards: Channel 799