Start of NASCAR race preempted by college football
NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series Chase for the Championship race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday night started without being televised.
The race was supposed to air on ABC but was preempted by a Baylor vs. TCU college football game that ran long. The network, which owns ESPN, couldn’t move the game to another of its many networks due to other college football games and a Miami Heat vs. Cleveland Cavaliers preseason NBA game. The network did get the race on ESPN3, but many still couldn't watch if social media is any indication.
The race was finally picked up by ABC around 8 p.m. eastern time with fans missing key action from a NASCAR playoff race (25 laps total). Some networks didn’t pick up the race and opted to air the local evening news instead. Little Rock’s KATV in Arkansas was one such network that opted to air local news instead of the race, which not only infuriated viewers, but a NASCAR legend.