WATCH LIVE: NASCAR AMERICA feat. Steve Letarte, Marcos Ambrose - MotorSportsTalk

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports team may be atop the NASCAR world after their victory Sunday at Pocono, but Earnhardt himself says the team still has areas to improve on before the Chase.

Who better to ask what those areas are than Earnhardt’s crew chief, Steve Letarte?

Today on NASCAR AMERICA, NBCSN’s Marty Snider will chat with Letarte about that subject as well as his driver’s growing confidence and how the new Chase format could impact the 88 team’s strategy from race to race.

You can watch today’s episode at 5 p.m. ET on NBCSN or you can CLICK HERE to stream it online and on your mobile device through NBC Sports Live Extra.

Also on tap:

Rick Allen, Kyle Petty and guest analyst Parker Kligerman review the new rules for the Chase format and discuss how it could lead to new strategies for those crew chiefs of the playoff competitors.
Marcos Ambrose faces a critical weekend at Watkins Glen as he tries to get himself into the post-season. NBCSN’s Kelli Stavast visits the Richard Petty Motorsports shop to speak with the road racing ace, who is winless and currently sits 49 points behind 16th in the Chase standings.
A look at the stats of six particular Sprint Cup drivers – three with a history of success at Watkins Glen and three who have done poorly there. Which of these drivers has a chance to win and which of them would be classified as a “shock” if he/she won?

If you plan to stream, be sure to have your username and password from your cable/satellite/telco provider handy so your subscription can be verified. Once you plug those pieces of information in, you’ll have access to the stream.

Again, CLICK HERE at 5 p.m. ET to watch NBCSN’s NASCAR AMERICA.

Follow @estradawriting

An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”