Winter Heat Series

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Winter Heat Series (or NASCAR Winter Heat) was a television program on TNN and later ESPN2 that featured stock car racing.

1 History
2 Late model champions
3 Famous drivers to gain national attention from the series
4 External links

[edit] History

The program aired during the winter months between November and January (during NASCAR's offseason). The program began ran from the 1994-1995 winter until the 1997-1998 winter. The races were held at the 3/8 mile Tucson Raceway Park.

TNN originally broadcasted the races before ESPN took over. Broadcasters for TNN were Mike Joy, Buddy Baker, Glen Jarrett and Ralph Shaheen. ESPN's broadcasts included Benny Parsons, Bob Jenkins, and Bill Weber.

There were six to eight races per winter. The first season of Winter Heat featured the then brand new Craftsman Super Truck Series, the Winston West Series and the NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour. In later years when ESPN covered the events, there generally were three late model races (called the Winston Triple Crown), and a race or two from the NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour and Winston West Series. Ron Hornaday, Jr. won the first ever Southwest Winter Heat race while Garrett Evans won the second.