Catchfence

“Fans invited next Wednesday to watch Dale Earnhardt Jr. & Shaquille O’Neal battle on track during taping of ABC’s hit show “Shaq Vs.”

CONCORD, N.C. (June 18, 2010) – The challenge has been issued and accepted. Four-time NBA champion Shaquille O’Neal has swapped his size-23 basketball shoes for racing Velcro; traded his breezy, cool basketball jersey for a heavy, fire-retardant driver’s suit; forgone the familiarity of basketball hardwood for the cramped quarters of a stock-car cockpit – all 7-foot-1, 325 pounds of him.

His reason: challenge NASCAR’s most popular driver and winner of more than 40 NASCAR-sanctioned races, Dale Earnhardt Jr., to a one-on-one race in a test of skill, endurance and speed.

The competition will be featured in the second season of Shaq Vs., the popular television series that is part of ABC’s new summer season. The show’s premise is simple: O’Neal takes his top-level skills and athletic prowess from the basketball court and transfers it to a different and unfamiliar sporting event.

The first season pitted Shaq in a head-to-head match-up against Albert Pujols in a homerun-hitting contest, Michael Phelps in a swimming race, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh in beach volleyball, and Oscar de la Hoya in a boxing match.

Shaq Vs., which is produced by Media Rights Capital in association with dick clark productions, will begin airing its second season in early August. Season Two will not rely solely on sporting matches but also will feature fun, comedic non-sports competitions such as a spelling bee contest and dance crew battle. Each will test O’Neal’s adaptability, but perhaps none more challenging than maneuvering a 3,500-pound stock car with more than 800 horsepower against Earnhardt Jr., winner of the Daytona 500 and 18 NASCAR Sprint Cup races.

The race between O’Neal and Earnhardt Jr. will take place at 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday, June 23, at Concord Speedway, a tricky, half-mile tri-oval that features some of the best weekly racing in North Carolina. The event is open to the public free of charge. Gates will open at 1 p.m. ET. No cameras or phones will be allowed inside the facility. Terms of the race will be negotiated by O’Neal and Earnhardt Jr. on the day of the race.

ABOUT SHAQ VS. SEASON 2

Shaq Vs. will premiere its second season on ABC Tuesday, Aug. 3. Each episode in Season Two will not rely solely on sporting matches, but also will feature fun, comedic non-sports competitions as well, such as a spelling bee contest or a dance crew battle among others to be named. Shaq Vs. is produced by Media Rights Capital in association with dick clark productions. Orly Adelson, Will Staeger and Barry Adelman of dick clark productions, Shaquille O’Neal, Trice Barto, Perry Rogers and Steve Nash serve as executive producers.

ABOUT JR MOTORSPORTS

JR Motorsports is the management company and racing operation for Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR’s seven-time Most Popular Driver and winner of more than 40 NASCAR-sanctioned races. JR Motorsports competes in multiple racing divisions, including the NASCAR Nationwide Series. In 2008 JRM enjoyed a breakout season with four Nationwide Series victories between its two teams. The company followed suit with four more wins in 2009. The JR Motorsports facilities are based out of Mooresville, N.C., and include the JR Nation retail store, Hammerhead Entertainment, and DEJ Realty. For more information on JR Motorsports, visit www.dalejr.com.

- JR Motorsports Press Release