Viewer's Guide: Lowe's

The Chase for the Nextel Cup continues Saturday with a prime-time night race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in the Charlotte, N.C., area. ESPN on ABC will have live coverage of the Bank of America 500 beginning at 7 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown.

ESPN2 will have live, prime-time coverage of Cup qualifying at 7 p.m. ET Thursday, and Happy Hour practice airs at 6 p.m. ET Friday.

Q&A: Rusty Wallace

Rusty Wallace is the only national TV analyst who has competed in the Chase as a driver.

Q: What has been the biggest surprise of the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup so far?

Wallace: The biggest surprise is that no one has gathered a strong rhythm. I am really perplexed why so many of the Chase contenders have had problems. The only three that seem to be keeping out of trouble are Clint Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. Everyone else is struggling big time and that's a surprise with the caliber of teams and drivers that made the top 12. The lack of consistency out of the top-12 players has been a real surprise.

Q: What are the characteristics of the Charlotte track that drivers like the most?

Wallace: Charlotte is a love/hate relationship for drivers. The teams love going there because it's home. They can sleep in their own beds and a lot of the people who work back in the race shop who don't have the opportunity to go to the races each weekend, get to bring their families and friends and watch the car that they're associated with.

The hate part comes in trying to maneuver around the track. Drivers can race all over the track, and since they re-paved it, it has a smooth, great surface. But the downfall is that Goodyear has brought a really hard tire to run there and it causes a lot of crashes off the exit of Turn 4. I don't expect it to be much different this time.

Q: Jimmie Johnson has been so good at Charlotte the last few years, do you see him as the man to beat again Saturday night?

Wallace: You have to choose Jimmie because he has been so consistent, although there are many drivers just as good as him. Tony Stewart should do well and Jeff Gordon looks really good. On the older surface, Jimmie was very good. On the new surface he's good but not as good as before. With the new surface it has opened up the playing field for more guys to compete with him.

NASCAR: Chasing Glory

ESPN has expanded its NASCAR coverage for 2007 with a weekly program chronicling the 12 NASCAR drivers competing in the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

NASCAR: Chasing Glory is an 11-week, behind-the-scenes series that features Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and the other eight Chase drivers as they pursue the 2007 Nextel Cup championship. The half-hour series documents the drivers' preparation, as well as their teams', for each race in the Chase.

"This program gives NASCAR fans new insight and information from their favorite drivers as they deal with the rigors and stress of competing for the championship," said Julie Sobieski, ESPN vice president, programming and acquisitions. "It provides a very in-depth look into the life of a top NASCAR Nextel Cup driver."

The program airs 5:30 p.m. ET Wednesdays on ESPN2 through Nov. 14, and switches to either 5:30 p.m. or 6 p.m. ET Tuesdays for the remaining episodes, with the finale scheduled for Dec. 4. The final two episodes re-air at 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. ET on Dec. 11 on ESPN2.

• Also, another episode of ESPN Ultimate NASCAR re-airs with Hottest Rivalries at 3 p.m. ET Friday.

• Three episodes of the ESPN2 Garage program Race Wizard with Ray Evernham will air this week: 5 p.m. Wednesday and back-to-back episodes beginning at 10 a.m. ET Sunday. Race Wizard brings NASCAR fans into the action as race team owner Ray Evernham answers questions submitted by viewers.

Busch Series on ESPN2

On Friday night, ESPN2 continues its season-long coverage of the Busch Series with a live, prime-time race from Lowe's Motor Speedway. The telecast of the 300-mile race begins at 7:30 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown.

Online fans can watch the Busch Series live race broadcast from Lowe's on NASCAR.COM. To learn more, click here.

In addition to coverage of the race, ESPN2 will have a live telecast of Busch Series qualifying at 4 p.m. ET Friday. Coverage of the final practice airs at 6 p.m. ET Thursday.

Night of NASCAR Stars

This SPEED program features Ken Schrader and Kenny Wallace competing against top Late Model drivers from the Midwest. The show has two air times: 2 p.m. ET Thursday and 12 a.m. ET Saturday.