TV Schedule: May 17-20

All-Star Week is here! NASCAR sticks close to home in Charlotte, N.C., the heart of the sport, for the next two weeks. Several race teams and the NASCAR Hall of Fame are located in the vicinity of Queen City. As fans converge on the area, many events are planned.

The week gets under way with the Sprint Pit Crew Challenge tonight. Then the Camping World Truck Series returns to action Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. On Saturday, the Sprint Cup drivers gear up for the highly anticipated Sprint Showdown and All-Star Race.

With nothing on the line but bragging rights and a cool $1 million, drivers go all out to win the All-Star Race. There's a new tweak to the race format this year: The winner of each of the first four segments will start from the top 4 spots for the fifth and final segment, setting up what will hopefully be a thrilling shootout for the win.

This leads up to the Coca-Cola 600, the longest race of the season, next Sunday, May 27. 

The Nationwide Series is running this weekend at Iowa Speedway, a rare Sunday race and standalone event.

Track facts
Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, N.C.
Length: 1.5-mile oval
Type: Intermediate
Banking: 24 degrees in turns, 5 degrees on the straightaways

Iowa Speedway, Newton, Iowa
Length: 0.875-mile tri-oval
Type: Short track
Banking: 12-14 degree compound banking, 10 degrees on frontstretch, 4 degrees on backstretch

SPRINT CUP - Charlotte
Sprint Showdown format:
2 segments, 40 laps. Each segment is 20 laps.

2011 winner:
David Ragan

All-Star race format:
5 segments, 90 laps. First 4 segments are 20 laps each, with final segment 10 laps.

2011 winner:
Carl Edwards

TRUCK SERIES - Charlotte
North Carolina Education Lottery 200 format:
200 miles, 133 laps

2011 winner:
Kyle Busch

NATIONWIDE - Iowa
Pioneer Hi-Bred 250 format:
218.75 miles, 250 laps

2011 winners:
Spring: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Fall: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

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

Thursday, May 17:
7 p.m. SPEED Center NASCAR Edition, SPEED
8 p.m. Sprint Pit Crew Challenge, SPEED   

Friday, May 18:
12 a.m. SPEED Center NASCAR Edition, SPEED
8 a.m. SPEED Center NASCAR Edition, SPEED
9 a.m. NCWTS Practice at Charlotte
10:30 a.m. NCWTS Final Practice at Charlotte, SPEED
12 p.m. NSCS Practice (Showdown), SPEED
1:30 p.m. NSCS Practice (All-Star), SPEED
3 p.m. NASCAR Now, ESPN2
3 p.m. Trackside, SPEED. Guests: Joey Logano and Sam Bass.
4 p.m. NCWTS Qualifying at Charlotte, SPEED
5 p.m. NSCS Qualifying (Showdown), SPEED
6 p.m. NSCS Qualifying (All-Star), SPEED
7:30 p.m. NCWTS SetUp, SPEED
8 p.m. NCWTS at Charlotte: North Carolina Education Lottery 200, SPEED
11 p.m. Trackside (re-air), SPEED

Saturday, May 19:
9:30 a.m. NNS Practice at Iowa
12 a.m. NCWTS SetUp (re-air), SPEED
12:30 a.m. NCWTS: North Carolina Education Lottery 200 (re-air), SPEED
3 a.m. NASCAR K&N Pro Series, SPEED
11 a.m. NASCAR Now presented by 5-HOUR Energy, ESPN2
11 a.m. Trackside, SPEED
12 noon Sprint Pit Crew Challenge (re-air), SPEED
3 p.m. NASCAR Performance, SPEED
3:30 p.m. SPEED Center NASCAR Edition, SPEED
4 p.m. NASCAR RaceDay, SPEED
4:40 p.m. NNS Qualifying at Iowa
7 p.m. NSCS: NASCAR Sprint Showdown / NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, SPEED
11:30 p.m. NASCAR Victory Lane, SPEED   

Sunday, May 20:
12 a.m. NSCS: NASCAR Sprint Showdown / NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race (re-air), SPEED
4:30 a.m. NASCAR Victory Lane (re-air), SPEED
1:30 p.m. NNS Countdown, ESPN
2 p.m. NNS at Iowa: Pioneer Hi-Bred 250, ESPN
9 p.m. NASCAR Victory Lane, SPEED (also re-airs at midnight and 9 a.m.)