Updated: January 24, 2008, 6:35 PM EST

50th Daytona 500 on Feb. 17 Highlights Slate; Season's Green Flag Drops Saturday, Feb. 9 at The Budweiser Shootout

As FOX Sports prepares to begin its eighth year of NASCAR coverage, the network revs its engine with the unveiling of 2008 NASCAR on FOX broadcast schedule. Prior to exclusive, live coverage of the 50th Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 17, FOX Sports hits the gas on its Emmy Award-winning coverage with night racing from Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, Feb. 9 (8 p.m. ET) with The Budweiser Shootout. This 70-lap exhibition pits last season's Sprint Cup pole winners and past champions in an all-out "sprint" for the checkered flag.

Mike Joy, with almost 40 years in racing, returns as race announcer, and is joined by NASCAR racing legend Darrell Waltrip and former champion crew chief Larry McReynolds, who return to provide race analysis for all NASCAR on FOX events. Prerace coverage is again hosted by Chris Myers with analyst Jeff Hammond, and returning to cover pit road are reporters Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Krista Voda and Matt Yocum.

In all, FOX Sports airs 13 NASCAR Sprint Cup points races, highlighted by races from Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 2; Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, April 6; Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, April 27; NASCAR racing from Charlotte on Sunday, May 25 from Lowe's Motor Speedway on Memorial Day weekend and the NASCAR on FOX season finale from Dover, Delaware on Sunday, June 1. In addition to its Sprint Cup coverage, FOX Sports presents two live Craftsman Truck Series races: Saturday, Feb. 23 from California Speedway and Saturday, March 29 from Martinsville Speedway.

FOX Sports continually achieves a hard-earned distinction as television's most innovative sports broadcaster, and ranking high among the network's achievements are those on behalf of its NASCAR coverage. NASCAR on FOX has amassed 10 Emmy Awards for its coverage (note: the 2007 Sports Emmys have yet to be awarded), including two for Outstanding Sports Series (2001, 2005), three for Outstanding Live Event Audio Sound (2002, 2005, 2006), one for Outstanding Graphic Design (2001), and four for Outstanding Technical Team Remote (2001, 2003-05).

NASCAR on FOX is as healthy as ever in terms of viewership and advertiser interest as its early season portion of the NASCAR calendar dominates the ratings. NASCAR on FOX ratings lead over the NBA, FOX's primary seasonal competitor, is bigger than ever, nearly tripling the NBA's rating on ABC last season. Household ratings for all races in 2007 vs. '06 on FOX were essentially flat (5.9 vs. 6.1), but were up slightly year-to-year among younger men, which is the key demographic coveted by advertisers. Early indications are that advertiser demand for NASCAR on FOX in 2008 is stronger than it's ever been.

In a broader sense, NASCAR is without a doubt the sports success story of the decade. FOX's average NASCAR rating in 2007, including the Daytona 500 (5.9) is +18% higher than the average NASCAR rating on network television in 2000 (5.0), which was the last year before NASCAR came to FOX. No other sport has enjoyed that kind of growth in this decade.

Below is the complete 2008 NASCAR on FOX broadcast schedule
(all times Eastern, schedule subject to change):