Viewer's Guide: Bristol

The Cup and Busch Series go from the 2-mile Michigan International Speedway to the "world's fastest half-mile" at Bristol Motor Speedway and ESPN will again televise both races.

ESPN analyst Rusty Wallace knows a thing or two about running at Bristol. In 44 Cup starts at the 0.533-mile track, he has nine wins, 22 top-fives and 29 top-10s with an average finish of 9.6.

Wallace was one of the first to drive on the newly-paced Bristol track and he says fans are in for a different style of race at Bristol, but one that will be better to watch.

"I drove the track in a pace car a few weeks back and I was surprised by how smooth it was. Before, it was a struggle to run side-by-side at Bristol, but now you can do it easily," Wallace said. "Another racing division ran a race at Bristol not long ago and at times they were running three-wide. It's going to be a great race for ESPN and one of the most exciting fans are going to see. Repaving was, without a doubt, a positive thing."

And continuing with a tradition that started back in 1978, the fall race at Bristol will be run under the lights. Wallace says the setups of the car won't change much from the daytime spring race, but when the lights come on in Tennessee, it's a sight not to be missed.

"For some reason at night, whether it's a big track or short track, it's more dramatic," Wallace said. "At Bristol, you've got all of the colors of the cars, fire coming out of the tailpipes and it's unbelievably dramatic. You've got more bumping and banging and crashing, all the fans have cameras flashing and when the sun goes down, all heck breaks loose.

"The setup and strategy of racing at Bristol Motor Speedway at night and during the day are very much the same. It's a concrete track, which means that it's much more consistent and not nearly as sensitive to heat and cold as asphalt. That's what makes the setups very similar."

ESPN will have live coverage of the Sharpie 500 from Bristol Motor Speedway, beginning at 7 p.m. ET Saturday, with the pre-race NASCAR Countdown program. The green flag is scheduled for 8:13 p.m. ET.

On Friday, ESPN2 continues its season-long coverage of the Busch Series with live coverage of the Food City 250 at BMS. The telecast begins at 7:30 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown. Green is set to wave shortly after 8:13 p.m. ET.

Online fans can watch both the Nextel Cup and Busch Series live race broadcasts from Bristol on NASCAR.COM. To learn more, click on Nextel Cup | Busch Series.

SPEED will have practices and qualifying for both series. Check the listings below for times.