Catchfence

Steve Byrnes, Larry McReynolds, Jeff Hammond and Darrell Waltrip will bring their popular SPEED Trackside show to the annual uptown Charlotte NASCAR street festival on Friday at 7 p.m. ET. Guests will include three-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson and NASCAR Hall of Fame director Winston Kelly.

As the popular series closes in on its 275th show, it is important to note that is was Trackside’s first live-audience show in Uptown Charlotte in 2003 that set the course for the development of NASCAR on SPEED.

SPEED commissioned JHE Production Group to construct and manage a traveling stage truck for the Friday night pre-race show. The Trackside stage truck made its debut in Daytona in 2004. The idea was to tap into the mounting fan energy at the race track, allowing the television viewer to feel like they were part of the crowd.

“From that moment on, it was all about coming up with new ways to take SPEED viewers to the track in the coolest ways possible,” said network President Hunter Nickell. “We began investing in reformatting nearly all of our studio shows to be done in front of live audiences from the race track every weekend. “NASCAR RaceDay was born and quickly registered as a fan favorite. NASCAR Performance moved from the studio in Charlotte to the race track and NASCAR Victory Lane literally began rolling into Victory Lane each weekend for post-race interviews that started before the confetti finished falling.”

In 2004, JHE operated one stage truck for SPEED with two employees dedicated to the project. By 2008, the traveling SPEED circus had grown to include five tractor trailers carrying three different main show stages, a Victory Lane desk and cutaway car. A chart showing the evolution of NASCAR on SPEED at-track shows is attached.

SPEED™ is the nation’s first and foremost cable television network dedicated to motor sports and the passion for everything automotive. From racing to restoration, motorcycles to movies, SPEED delivers quality programming from the track to the garage. Now available in more than 78 million homes in North America, SPEED is among the fastest-growing sports cable networks in the country and, the home to NASCAR on SPEED and an industry leader in interactive TV, video on demand, mobile initiatives and broadband services. For more information, please visit SPEEDtv.com, the online motor sports authority.

- SPEED TV, Press Release