NBC Sports to Present NASCAR Playoff Racing from New Hampshire, 9/25

NBC Sports presents back-to-back playoff coverage of the NASCAR Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series races this weekend. The Sprint Cup Series heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN for a wicked fast weekend of racing where the remaining 15 winless drivers will battle to secure a position in the next playoff Round of 12. For the first time 12 XFINITY Series drivers will also face off in a seven race Chase of their own, beginning this weekend at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN from Kentucky Speedway.

NASCAR America, NBCSN's daily show dedicated to stock car racing, announced exclusively today that Grammy Award-winning superstar sibling trio, The Band Perry, will be this year's NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES championship pre-race performance. The Band Perry's performance will be featured during NBC's Countdown to Green coverage from Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, November 20th, prior to the running of the Ford EcoBoost 400.

NBCSN's presentation of the NASCAR Sprint Cup race from CHICAGOLAND Speedway again outpaced several COLLEGE FOOTBALL games to become the most watched cable sports telecast of the weekend, with 2.7 million viewers. This marks the third consecutive week NBCSN's Sprint Cup NASCAR coverage has won the weekend among cable sports telecasts. Sunday's NASCAR race from CHICAGOLAND also drove NBCSN to the No. 1 cable network during the race window between 3-5:45 p.m. ET. Viewership peaked in the final minutes, with 3.6 million viewers and a 2.10 HH rating, as Martin Truex Jr. secured the first win of the 2016 Chase. Live streaming of Sunday's race via NBCSports.com and NBC Sports app generated 2.5 million live minutes, and 31,000 unique devices. Saturday's final race of the XFINITY Series regular season drew 1.7 million viewers on NBC, and broke the record for most watched fall XFINITY race from Chicagoland.

NBC Sports begins its Sprint Cup coverage Friday morning from New Hampshire Motor Speedway with practice at 11:30 a.m. ET on NBCSN. Sprint Cup qualifying kicks off Friday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN and wraps up the day's coverage from New England.

Saturday's coverage begins with practice at 9 a.m. ET on CNBC followed by final practice at 11:30 a.m. ET also on CNBC. Sunday's race day coverage begins with NASCAR AMERICA at 1 p.m. ET on NBCSN. Countdown to Green begins at 1:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN followed by race coverage at 2 p.m. ET. An on-site post-race show wraps up NBC Sports' coverage from New Hampshire. Victory Lap immediately follows to recap the weekend's racing action at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN from NBC Sports Group's headquarters in Stamford, Conn.

Race announcer Rick Allen calls this weekend's action alongside analysts Steve Letarte and Jeff Burton. Pre- and post-race coverage is handled by host Krista Voda, and analysts Kyle Petty and Dale Jarrett. Marty Snider, Mike Massaro, Dave Burns and Kelli Stavast report from pit road.

NBC Sports' coverage from Kentucky Speedway begins Friday afternoon with practice at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN. Final practice wraps up the day at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN. Saturday's race day coverage begins with qualifying at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN. Countdown to Green kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN and flows into coverage of the first race of the XFINITY Series Chase at 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

Leigh Diffey calls this weekend's XFINITY coverage from Kentucky alongside double-duty analyst Dale Jarrett. Marty Snider, Parker Kligerman and Alex Hayden report from pit road.

NASCAR's Chief Marketing Officer Jill Gregory joins Nate Ryan on this week's NASCAR on NBC podcast for a candid discussion about engaging NASCAR fans, changes to the marketing of this year's Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and the challenge of introducing rising stars to the sport. Available on NASCAR Talk, iTunes, AudioBoom, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher and podcasting apps, the NASCAR on NBC podcast discusses the latest NASCAR news each week with the major players in the sport.