ESPN MediaZone

NASCAR Host

Allen Bestwick

Allen Bestwick, who has more than 20 years of experience as a motorsports broadcaster, serves as host of NASCAR Countdown and NACAR Now on ESPN.

Bestwick served multiple roles during ESPN’s return to NASCAR in 2007, including pit reporter, play-by-play announcer and host. He became a fulltime host in 2008, anchoring the popular Monday roundtable discussion edition of NASCAR Now. Bestwick was part of NBC and TNT’s NASCAR coverage from 2001-2006, both as a pit reporter and lead play-by-play announcer.

Bestwick has extensive experience in both radio and television, having started his NASCAR career in 1986 as a turn announcer for MRN Radio. His father started racing at Seekonk (Mass.) Speedway, near the family’s Rhode Island home, when Bestwick was 6 years old, spawning his interest in the sport. He became the Seekonk track announcer when he was 16.

Bestwick, who also worked briefly in New York for ABC Radio, worked for MRN for nearly 15 years. He was the play-by-play announcer from 1988-2000, broadcasting NASCAR races to more than 500 affiliate stations in the United States and hosting the network’s daily news program from MRN’s headquarters inside the Daytona International Speedway.

He made his television debut in 1995 on the original NASCAR Today program on ESPN and joined the SPEED Channel in 1996 as the host of Inside NEXTEL Cup Racing, a post he held for 10 years. He started pit reporting for TBS and TNT in 1997. While continuing to work in radio, Bestwick joined NBC in 1999, covering NASCAR races as well as arena football and track and field events.

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