RACE BROADCASTING (DAYTONA, FLA.) - Ride Along with Stewart, Earnhardt, Gordon and Harvick During 50th Daytona 500 on DIRECTV

Daytona 500 NASCAR HotPass Lineup

In 2007, DIRECTV and NASCAR took the race-day television experience to new heights with the cutting-edge interactive television service, NASCAR HOTPASS™ only on DIRECTV. The new service featured dedicated driver channels offering viewers multiple camera angles, real-time statistics and announcer teams in addition to live communications between the drivers and their pit crews. At last season’s Daytona 500, DIRECTV NASCAR HOTPASS customers enjoyed the ultimate perspective on featured HOTPASS driver Kevin Harvick’s dramatic final lap victory, edging out Mark Martin in one of the closest finishes in Daytona 500 history.

In addition to the four dedicated driver channels, DIRECTV is raising the bar even further in 2008, offering NASCAR HOTPASS in high-definition and upgrading it to include additional live audio feeds of driver/pit crew communications for 13 different teams.

DIRECTV Channel 795: Tony Stewart & the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota team of Joe Gibbs Racing

Tony Stewart is a two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion (2002 and 2005) and a two-time winner of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard (2005 and 2007), but he has failed to win the Daytona 500 in nine previous starts… The 36-year-old from Columbus, Ind., has 11 victories in three different series at Daytona… Sprint Cup (2005 and 2006 Pepsi 400; 2001, 2002 and 2007 Budweiser Shootout; 2005 and 2007 Gatorade Duel), NASCAR Nationwide Series (2005 and 2006 season-opener), IROC (2002 on the 2.5-mile oval, 2006 on the 3.25-mile road course)… Has four top-10 finishes in Daytona 500 competition, including a second-place finish in 2004 behind Dale Earnhardt Jr.,… Of the 699 laps Stewart has led in the 36 point-paying restrictor plate races he has driven, 516 have been at Daytona (73.8 percent). The remaining 183 laps led have come at Talladega… Stewart begins his 10th season with Joe Gibbs Racing, sponsor Home Depot and crew chief Greg Zipadelli. It is the longest team/sponsor/driver/crew chief combination in the Sprint Cup Series… In nine years of Sprint Cup competition, Stewart has 320 career starts, with 32 point-paying victories… Has accumulated 11 driving championships collectively in karting, USAC Midget, Sprint, Silver Crown, IRL IndyCar, IROC and Sprint Cup Series competition.

DIRECTV Channel 796: Dale Earnhardt Jr., & the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet team of Hendrick Motorsports

Dale Earnhardt Jr., is a former Daytona 500 champion, having won the season-opening race in 2004… The 33-year-old from Kannapolis, N.C., and son of the late Dale Earnhardt, a seven-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion who won the Daytona 500 in 1998, comes into the 50th running of the “Great American Race” with a new team and sponsor… Earnhardt left the team his father started – Dale Earnhardt Inc. – at the end of the 2007 season to join the powerhouse team of Hendrick Motorsports… This year’s Daytona 500 will mark the point-paying debut of Earnhardt in his new No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet… Earnhardt has a total of 12 victories at Daytona – two point-paying wins in Sprint Cup (2001 Pepsi 400 and 2004 Daytona 500), five non point-paying wins in Sprint Cup (2003 and 2008 Budweiser Shootout; 2003, 2004 and 2008 Gatorade Duel) and five wins in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (Spring 2002, Spring 2003, Summer 2003, Spring 2004 and Summer 2006)… The Daytona 500 will mark Earnhardt’s 292nd career Sprint Cup start and his 17th at Daytona… During that time, Earnhardt has won 17 races, one pole and scored 76 top-fives and 121 top-10s… 2008 marks Earnhardt’s ninth full-year in Sprint Cup, with a career-best point finish of third in 2003.

DIRECTV Channel 797: Jeff Gordon & the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet team of Hendrick Motorsports

Jeff Gordon has 81 victories in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition, including three Daytona 500 victories (1997, 1999 and 2005)... Has 10 other victories at Daytona in Sprint Cup (1995, 1998 and 2004 Pepsi 400; 1994 and 1997 Budweiser Shootout; 1993, 2002, 2006 and 2007 Gatorade Duel) and IROC (1998)… The 36-year-old from Vallejo, Calif., has four Sprint Cup Series championships (1995, 1997, 1998 and 2001) and finished second to teammate Jimmie Johnson in the 2007 point standings… Has seven top-10 finishes in 15 Daytona 500 starts, including a 10th-place finish last year… Has 509 Sprint Cup starts and has finished in the top-10 in a staggering 317 of them (62 percent)… Has won at least two races every season since 1994 and has won more than five races in a season on eight occasions, including winning six races last season… Scored an incredible 30 top-10 finishes in 36 point-paying races in 2007… Has 63 career pole positions, including the first starting spot for 1999 Daytona 500… Has won more than $93 million in his NASCAR career… Gordon and his wife, Ingrid, welcomed this first child, Ella Sofia, last summer.

DIRECTV Channel 798: Kevin Harvick & the No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet team of Richard Childress Racing

Kevin Harvick is the defending Daytona 500 winner, having defeated Mark Martin in 2007 by just .020 of a second… Also won the NASCAR Nationwide Series season-opening event last February at Daytona… The 33-year-old from Bakersfield, Calif., finished fourth in the 2003 and 2004 Daytona 500 events… Has 11 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories in 250 starts, as well as 101 top-10 finishes (40 percent)… Started second in the 2002 Daytona 500 and has five career poles in Sprint Cup Series competition… Finished a career-best fourth in the 2006 Sprint Cup point standings… Won the 2007 NASCAR All-Star Challenge at Lowe’s Motor Speedway… First career Sprint Cup victory came in March 2001 at Atlanta in just his third career start… Is the only driver to win the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard from the pole position (2003)… Won NASCAR Nationwide Series championships in 2001 and 2006 and has 32 Nationwide Series victories… Won 2002 IROC title, and his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team, Kevin Harvick Inc., won the Truck Series title with driver Ron Hornaday Jr., in 2007.

Next weekend’s NASCAR HOTPASS lineup for the Auto Club 500 at California Speedway in Fontana:

Juan Pablo Montoya, Dale Jarrett, Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne.

Teams and drivers are subject to change at anytime.

About NASCAR HOTPASS on DIRECTV:

NASCAR HOTPASS is now available at the full-season price of $109. Customers new to DIRECTV can also get a special introductory price. The exclusive service is also available on a pay-per-week basis for $19.99. More information is available on www.directv.com/hotpass. DIRECTV customers can order online, or by calling 1-800-GET SPORTS.