NASCAR on WBC (Johnsonverse)

NASCAR on WBC is an American television show that broadcast NASCAR races on WBC once in 1969, and again since 2014.

History
In 1969, a then-fledgling WBC and Darlington Raceway struck a deal to broadcast the Rebel 400. The coverage, hosted by Chris Economaki, was the first NASCAR race broadcast flag-to-flag, though it is often overshadowed by CBS' later telecast of the 1979 Daytona 500. The broadcast was so successful that WBC considered broadcasting more races as well, including the 1970 Daytona 500, but never did, due to WBC's desire to focus on their other sports. While he was running WBC (then known as JTV) during the 1980s, infamous CEO Phil Stacker seriously considered broadcasting NASCAR races on JTV, including the 1984 Daytona 500, which he would have hosted, and handled the play-by-play, due to him being a NASCAR fan himself, but opted to focus on broadcasting for other sports like MLB and NBA due to being unable to secure deals with any track, who feared that JTV's coverage would either be way too cheesy, since JTV’s coverage of their other sports featured cheap graphics, heavily biased in favor of certain drivers, as JTV's NBA coverage was infamous for being biased in favor of certain teams, or both (incidentally, Stacker fully approves of current CEO Tim Johnson's leadership of NASCAR). WBC also considered broadcasting the 2001 Daytona 500, with then-CEO Sheldon Johnson, Jr. as the play-by-play commentator, but the deal fell through at the last minute, with Johnson later being the guest play-by-play announcer for the 2009 event.

When Johnson Industries took full control of NASCAR in 2014, having owned the sport since 2009, WBC was added to the list of broadcasters alongside Fox, TNT, ESPN, and ABC (later pared down to Fox and NBC in 2015). WBC's coverage was critically acclaimed, mainly due to how "CBS-like" the broadcasts were, with its broadcasting team being nicknamed "the Dream Team of NASCAR broadcasting", even sweeping the Sports Emmys in 2014, 2016 and 2017.

It is expected that when the current television broadcast contract goes up in 2024, all Cup, PrimeStar, and SuperTruck events will move to WBC. All other series were moved to a new sister channel to TNN, named The NASCAR Network, in 2019; before the creation of The NASCAR Network, races in the lower series were primarily broadcast on ESPN using ESPN graphics and WBC broadcasters.

Play-By-Play
Almost every living NASCAR lead broadcaster is employed by WBC for NASCAR broadcasts. The exceptions are Ralph Sheheen and Dr. Jerry Punch (both pit reporters), Marty Reid (when asked, Tim Johnson reportedly responded, "Like hell, I'll ever hire someone who can't tell the difference between the white and checkered flags", referencing Reid's flub during the 2013 Kentucky 300 in which he declared Ryan Blaney the winner one lap early), and radio broadcasters (who remain at their posts on MRN, PRN, and IMS; several Johnson Radio stations are MRN affiliates, and all stations simulcast IMS coverage).


 * Ken Squier (1969; 2014-present, Cup and BGN events; alternates with Eli Gold for BGN events)
 * Eli Gold (2015-present, BGN events; alternates with Ken Squier)
 * Paul Page (2015-present, SuperTruck Series events; alternates with Bob Jenkins)
 * Bob Jenkins (2015-present, SuperTruck Series events; alternates with Paul Page)
 * Mike Joy (2017-present, Whelen Modified Tour, K&N Pro Series, and ARCA events)
 * Allen Bestwick (2016-present, SUV Series, E-Series, and Goodwrench events)
 * Rick Allen (2017-present, Elite Division, Dash Series, and Mid-Size events)
 * Leigh Diffey (2018-present; reserve broadcaster, will broadcast Brands Hatch races starting in 2019)
 * Vince Welch (2018-present; reserve broadcaster)
 * Tim Johnson (2014-present, 2014 Coke Zero 400 and all Tokyo Cup events as Fuyuki Hinata; SuperTruck and BGN Series events at Tokyo, and all Convertible Series and Ultimate events as himself)

Color Commentators

 * Barney Hall (1969)
 * Ned Jarrett (1969; 2014-present, all events except Convertible, Whelen Modified Tour, Elite, Goodwrench, and K&N Pro Series)
 * Buddy Baker (2014-2015; deceased)
 * Wally Dallenbach Jr. (2015-present, all events except Convertible, Whelen Modified Tour, Elite, Goodwrench, and K&N Pro Series)
 * David Hobbs (1969; 2018-present; reserve broadcaster, will broadcast Brands Hatch races starting in 2019)
 * Darrell Waltrip (2017-present, Whelen Modified Tour, K&N Pro Series, Goodwrench, ARCA, and Ultimate events)
 * Michael Waltrip (2019-present, ARCA events)
 * Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2017-present, Goodwrench and Ultimate events)
 * Jerry Nadeau (2017-present, Goodwrench and Ultimate events)
 * Dale Jarrett (2016-present, Elite Division events)
 * Rusty Wallace (2016-present, Elite Division events)
 * Chloe Johnson (2014-present, 2014 Coke Zero 400 and all Tokyo Cup events as Natsumi Hinata; SuperTruck and BGN events at Tokyo, and all Convertible Series and K&N Pro Series events as herself)
 * Belle Armstrong (2014-present, 2014 Coke Zero 400 and all Tokyo Cup events as Momoka Nishizawa; SuperTruck and BGN events at Tokyo, and all Convertible Series events as herself)

Pit Reporters

 * Ralph Sheheen (2014-present, all events)
 * Marty Snider (2014-present, all events)
 * Jamie Little (2014-present, all events)
 * Bill Weber (2014-present, Cup, BGN, SuperTruck, and Convertible Series events)
 * Richard Petty (2014-present, Cup, BGN and SuperTruck events)
 * David Hobbs (2014-present, BGN and SuperTruck events)
 * Dick Berggren (2018-present, BGN events)
 * Dr. Jerry Punch (2016-present, SUV Series, Whelen Modified Tour, and K&N Pro Series events)
 * Dave Burns (2017-present, Goody's and Elite Division events)
 * Jenny Smith (2014-present, 2014 Coke Zero 400 and all Cup Tokyo races as Koyuki Azumaya; Truck and BGN events at Tokyo, and all Convertible Series and Goody's events as herself)
 * Wendee Lee (2016-2017 Tokyo Cup events as Konata Izumi; 2018 Neptunia 400 as Blanc)
 * David Matranga (2016 Tokyo Cup events as Tomoya Okazaki)
 * Dan Castellaneta (2016-present Tokyo Cup events as Tamama)
 * Spike Spencer (2017-present Tokyo Cup events as Shinji Ikari)
 * Stephanie Sheh (2017 Tokyo Cup events as Yui Hirasawa)
 * Melissa Fahn (2018 Tokyo Cup events as Neptune)
 * Belle Armstrong (2014-present, SUV and Pre Race Grid Walks)
 * Erin Fitzgerald (2018 Neptunia 400 as Noire)
 * Tara Platt (2018 Neptunia 400 as Vert)

Studio (WBC Race Control)

 * Chris Economaki (1969; host)
 * Tom Stephenson (2014-present, host)
 * Dale Jarrett (2014-present, analyst, all events except Dash Series events)
 * Greg Gumbel (2014-present, analyst, BGN, Truck, SUV, Convertible, Dash Series, and Goodwrench events, post-race host)
 * Jeff Gordon (2018-present, analyst)
 * Dave Despain (2014, rules and technical analyst)
 * Andy Petree (2015-2017, rules and technical analyst; 2018-present, pre-race host)
 * Larry MacReynolds (2018-present, rules and technical analyst)
 * Kyle Petty (2014-present, pre-race host)

Music

 * Theme song/Credits: NASCAR on CBS theme (1998-2000)/IRL on CBS theme (1998) by Lorraine Wolf and Godfrey Nelson
 * Post-race theme song: NASCAR on CBS intro theme (1995-1998) by Mark Wood
 * Pre-race theme song: NASCAR on CBS closing theme (1995-1998) by Mark Wood

Starting grid themes

 * Road America: Escape by Dave Grusin (from The Electric Horseman)/1983-1985, 1987 Daytona 500 Starting Grid theme
 * Rockingham: Carolina in my Mind by James Taylor
 * Talladega: Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd
 * North Wilkesboro: Chasing Shadows by Yanni/1989, 1992, 1994 Daytona 500 Starting Grid theme
 * Charlotte: Las Vegas by Hans Zimmer (from Rain Man)/1990-1991 Daytona 500 Starting Grid theme
 * Summer Shootout (upcoming): Thriller by Michael Jackson
 * Darlington: Caribbean Queen by Billy Ocean/1986 Daytona 500 Starting Grid theme
 * Twin Ring Motegi: 1989 Hungarian Grand Prix Starting Grid theme by BBC
 * Tokyo: Start Your Engines (from Daytona USA)
 * Sonoma: California Dreamin' by The Mamas and the Papas
 * Daytona: 2001 Daytona 500 Starting Grid theme
 * Pocono: Philadelpha Freedom by Elton John
 * Wbc14.pnggan: 1988 Daytona 500 Starting Grid theme
 * Mid-Ohio (upcoming): Burn On by Randy Newman
 * Watkins Glen: New York New York by Frank Sinatra
 * Indianapolis: Delta Force Theme by Alan Silvestri
 * Walt Disney World: Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah by Allie Wrubel
 * Nashville: Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash
 * Iowa: Iowa Stubborn by Meredith Wilson (from The Music Man)
 * Brands Hatch (upcoming): Here Comes The Sun by The Beatles
 * Nazareth (upcoming): ESPN SpeedWorld Starting Grid theme
 * Other tracks (in the event a Fox or NBC network has commitments and the race needs to be moved to a Johnson-owned network such as WBC, TNN, The Family Channel or Cartoon Network): 2001-2007 NASCAR on FOX Starting Grid theme
 * BGN: Radio by Big & Rich
 * SuperTruck Series: Can You Feel It (instrumental) by The Jackson 5
 * SUV Series: The Diary of Jane by Breaking Benjamin
 * Convertible Series: NASCAR on TBS theme
 * K&N Pro Series: Life is a Highway by Tom Cochrane
 * Busch North (upcoming): Going Fast by Gary Nichols
 * All-Star Race (all events): Thunder by David Robidoux
 * Elite Division: Last of the Hardcore Troubadours by Steve Earle
 * Dash Series: King of the Road by Roger Miller
 * Whelen Modified Tour: Days of Thunder intro theme by Hans Zimmer
 * E-Series (upcoming): Thunderstruck by AC/DC
 * Mid-Size (upcoming): Fuel by Metallica
 * Goodwrench Racing Series: Eye of the War by Jeff Wayne/1982 Daytona 500 Starting Grid theme
 * ARCA Racing Series: Where Did We Go Wrong by Magna-Fi
 * Ultimate: 1993 Daytona 500 Starting Grid theme