TV Schedule: Feb. 16-19

The off-season is over - let's go racing! The drivers line up for last year's
Budweiser Shootout. Credit: Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR

The 2012 NASCAR season unofficially gets under way this week with the Budweiser Shootout, the first race of the season, at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday. Twenty-five Sprint Cup drivers are entered in the annual event. Though the race doesn't pay any points, bragging rights are at stake.

The first step of the qualifying process for NASCAR's premier event, the Daytona 500, is Sunday.

Track Facts
Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Fla.
Length: 2.5-mile tri-oval
Type: Superspeedway; restrictor-plate track
Bamking: 31 degrees in the turns, 18 degrees in the tri-oval, 3 degrees in the straightaways

Budweiser Shootout format
75 laps: Two segments, one 25 laps and the second 50 laps, with a 10-minute pit stop in between

2011 Budweiser Shootout winner:
Kurt Busch

The following is a schedule of track events and TV coverage this weekend. All times are in Eastern Daylight Time. Events without a channel listed will not be televised.

Thursday, Feb. 16:
12 noon NASCAR Now Media Day Special, ESPNEWS (3-hour presentation)
3 p.m. NASCAR Now, ESPN2
6 p.m. NASCAR Race Hub: Media Day, SPEED

Friday, Feb. 17:
7 a.m. NASCAR Race Hub: Media Day (re-air), SPEED
2 p.m. ARCA Qualifying
3 p.m. NASCAR Now, ESPN2
4 p.m. NASCAR Live, SPEED
5 p.m. Budweiser Shootout Practice, SPEED
6 p.m. NASCAR Live, SPEED
6:30 p.m. Budweiser Shootout Final Practice, SPEED
8:30 p.m. Budweiser Shootout Selection Show, SPEED

Saturday, Feb. 18:
12:30 a.m. Budweiser Shootout Selection Show (re-air), SPEED
11 a.m. NSCS Daytona 500 Practice, SPEED
1 p.m. NASCAR Live, SPEED
2 p.m. NSCS Daytona 500 Practice, SPEED
4 p.m. NASCAR Live, SPEED
4:30 p.m. ARCA Racing: Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200, SPEED
6:30 p.m. NASCAR RaceDay, SPEED
8 p.m. NSCS: Budweiser Shootout at Daytona, FOX. Greem flag: 8:10 p.m.
11:30 p.m. NASCAR Victory Lane, SPEED

Sunday, Feb. 19:
3 a.m. ARCA Racing: Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 (re-air), SPEED
11:30 a.m. NASCAR Victory Lane (re-air), SPEED
12 noon NASCAR Now, ESPN2
12 noon NASCAR Live, SPEED
1 p.m. NSCS Daytona 500 Qualifying, FOX
5 p.m. NSCS Replay: Budweiser Shootout at Daytona, SPEED
8 p.m. Daytona 500 Pole Day, SPEED
12 midnight Daytona 500 Pole Day (re-air), SPEED