From a press release issued by AMA Pro Racing:

DAYTONA TV PLATTER SURE TO SATISFY RACING FANS

SPEED Channel to provide over 21 hours of coverage from Bike Week 2004

PICKERINGTON, Ohio (February 25, 2004) — Racing fans will have a veritable feast of television coverage of Bike Week 2004 from Daytona Beach, Fla. SPEED Channel will feature over 21 hours of coverage of the biggest week in motorcycle racing. Highlights of this year’s SPEED Channel Daytona programming include same day coverage of the first ever Daytona Supercross by Honda to run under the lights on Friday night, March 5, beginning at 9 p.m. Live coverage will culminate with the broadcast of the 63rd Daytona 200 by Arai on Saturday, March 6.

“We’re excited to bring fans all the great action from Daytona,” said SPEED VP of Programming Robert Ecker. “This marks the third year we’ve provided comprehensive television coverage of the motorcycle races and we’re especially excited about bringing viewers three hours of same-day coverage from the first nighttime Daytona Supercross.”

Tuesday, March 2

Coverage from Daytona will kick off with 2 Wheel Tuesday with Greg White, primetime at 8 p.m. Eastern on March 2. White will undoubtedly show highlights of the vintage races and preview the upcoming AMA Pro Races and is sure to have some special guests on the show.

Wednesday, March 3

Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain continues the Daytona theme on Wednesday and Thursday nights live from the studio at Daytona International Speedway at 10 p.m. Eastern. Despain, one of the foremost experts on motorcycle racing, will bring in special guests for the shows and take calls from the national audience.

Thursday, March 4

Live racing coverage gets underway on Thursday, March 4, at 3 p.m. Eastern with the broadcast of the AMA Repsol Superstock final. Brian Drebber and David Sadowski will provide play-by-play of the races, while Greg White and Ralph Sheheen will keep fans abreast of the behind-the-scenes action in the pits; all anchored by Dave Despain in the Victory Lane Studio. This will be the inaugural race under AMA Pro Racing’s new 1000cc street-based Supersport rules. Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha are all fielding factory teams in the class this year. The buzz coming into this year’s Superstock opener is the return to AMA racing of Aussie Anthony Gobert. Gobert will ride an Erion Racing Honda CBR1000RR in the Superstock final.

The AMA Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme final gets underway with live coverage at 4 p.m. on Thursday. The new formula in Formula Xtreme in 2004 is loaded with talent. AMA racing champs like Miguel Duhamel, Ben Bostrom, Jason Pridmore and Jimmy Moore are slated to go head-to-head.

Friday, March 5

This year’s Daytona Supercross by Honda will be historic by virtue of being the first time the most grueling Supercross race on the calendar will run under the lights and SPEED Channel will be there to provide three hours of coverage. Yamaha’s Chad Reed hopes to add his name to the list of Daytona Supercross winners, but he’ll face a tough challenge from the likes of Honda riders Kevin Windham and Mike LaRocco. James Stewart will make his Daytona debut in the 125 East class.

Saturday, March 6

Saturday, March 6, will be motorcycle racing overload on SPEED Channel. The day begins bright and early at 10:30 a.m. with live coverage of the AMA Pro Honda Oils Supersport by Shoei. Since this series began at Daytona 17 years ago, it has consistently provided some of the closest racing in all of Bike Week. Former winners of this race include great riders such as Doug Polen, John Kocinski, Doug Chandler, Kurtis Roberts and Miguel Duhamel to name a few.

At 11:30 a.m. the cylinder-banging action of the BMW Boxer Cup will be shown live. This race features riders from all over the world racing wheel-to-wheel on equally prepared BMWs. Last year’s inaugural race provided heart-pounding action with riders going five and six abreast at top speed down Daytona’s tri-oval.

While fans at Daytona International Speedway will get a break in the action, the SPEED Channel television audience gets to have a little AMA Progressive Insurance Grand National racing action with their lunch. Defending series champ Chris Carr will be racing to become the first four-time winner at Daytona Beach’s Municipal Stadium. This race will also kick off the 50th Anniversary season of the AMA Grand National Championship.

The Daytona 200 by Arai Pre-Race Show hosted by Dave Despain starts at 1:30 p.m. leading up to the 2:00 p.m. green flag of the 63rd running of the Daytona 200 by Arai. Honda’s Miguel Duhamel is hoping to tie Scott Russell’s record of five Daytona 200 wins this year.

Tuesday, March 9

2 Wheel Tuesday with Greg White will wrap up the weeklong coverage of Daytona 2004. White will give a comprehensive wrap-up of all of Daytona’s major racing activities.