Apparently ESPN was not only pleased with the 3: The Dale Earnhardt Story DVD sales, but it reckons that NASCAR fans are ready and willing to pick it up on Blu, too. The sports giant has just revealed that its first Blu-ray title will be the Collector's Edition of the aforementioned title, and it's slated to land on November 11th. There are no definite extras or specifications to speak of, but we'd expect ESPN to bring the heat on its first foray into BD. MSRP for the title is set at $34.95, but as always, you'll be able to find it for much less without too much effort.

[Via High-Def Digest]

Auto racing and HD is a great match, no doubt. Even if you're like us and prefer being at road course events in person, there's one vantage point that only HDTV can give you -- those in-car camera shots that make the kid inside us all scream "vroom." But if you see something like the pic above, that scream might be more... colorful. The in-car Gigawave HD camera mounted in the #6 Phoenix Carsport Corvette Z06 at the 24 Hours of Spa race in Belgium last weekend was seriously put to the test and came out looking like a champ. The Z06 burst into flames in pit lane, and the camera kept working through the whole incident and caught all the excitement. Luckily the driver wasn't hurt. Amazingly, the car was put back out on the track and the camera was still fully functional after the incident. Click on through for video of the incident.

After Neural-THX Surround got around 14.5 minutes in the limelight with its Super Bowl XLII showing earlier this year, the technology has remained far, far away from the press. Now, however, SPEED is vowing to integrate Neural-THX Surround professional products "for its HD programming schedule covering NASCAR, Grand Am, IndyCar, etc." For those unfamiliar with the technology, it goes a little something like this: 5.1 sound from the track is taken in, beamed over stereo channels to minimize bandwidth usage and then decoded by specially equipped receivers for "5.1 surround" in the living room. From what we can tell, the tech should be ready to roll right now, so it's up to you to snatch up an AVR in order to take advantage.

There's always room for more racing in high definition, and A1 Grand Prix fans are the latest to be blessed, as the upcoming season be available in high definition (assuming your local broadcaster offers it). Since A1GP does a bit more country-hopping than NASCAR or Indy the logistics are more complicated, but we can apparently expect HD looks at the action courtesy of 60 cameras manned by a team of 130 production staff following the series around the world. also in store are new on-board camera positions and more telemetry info when the '08/'09 season kicks off September 21 from Mugello.

Not everyone has an incredible home cinema, but in the UK at least that won't get in the way of a premium high definition experience while watching Lewis Hamilton tear up the F1 circuit. After a test run showing the British Grand Prix last year, Odeon Cinemas is working with Formula One Management to show ten races this season in 25 locations, live and without commercial breaks. The international HD feed and Dolby Surround 5.1 audio will be in full effect, no word on how many quid, pence or pounds this costs but at least it's one way to avoid seeing Sex & the City for the 5th time this weekend.

Joining NASCAR, Indy, off road and Mustangs in this season's HD racing schedule is a brand new series focused on drift racing. Rush HD premieres Drift Style tonight at 8:30 p.m. on the Voom HD network. If you're (still) not familiar with the sport, its a competition mixing speed with style as drivers take their heavily customized street cars around the track. We're glad to see more new original content on Voom, for more info on this weekly series check the full PR after the break.

On this week's podcast we got down a little bit on oval course racing, but if you want to check out a different take on the theme, tune in to HDNet on April 11th and 12th. For the sixth year, the network will be broadcasting the "Little 500" from Indiana University. It's an oval all right, but the event is all about fixed-gear single-speed bicycles with coaster brakes on a quarter-mile cinder track. No matter whether they're a "cutter" or a "frat boy," riders must use an event-provided bike with no mods and must make switches during the event. Think you were fast on that banana-seat Schwinn (complete with "are you kidding me" toptube-mounted gearshift) as a kid? Think again.


[Image courtesy BikeIcons]

If NASCAR and Indy aren't giving you enough HD racing this season, there's always the Ford Mustang Challenge. Discovery HD Theater is planning a three-part series to follow the eight race series, beginning with testing this month to its conclusion in September. The now standard in-car HD cameras will be a part of the action as professional racers ranging from rookies to vets hit the track in their identically-spec'd Ford Mustang FR500S. An air date is still TBD, but pony car fans can check after the jump for more details.

[Via Autoblog]

Though we already knew the entire 2008 IndyCar Series would be broadcast in high-definition, many may have glossed over one crucial (to us, anyway) element: a minimum of six cars in each race "will be carrying onboard HD cameras with 360-degree panning capabilities." Of course, NASCAR fans know all too well the joys of seeing things from within the frame, but this marks the first time professional racing has used cameras of the HD variety to entertain. Reportedly, the devices will be "lipstick-sized and mounted in a protective shell atop the car's air intake, and panning [will be] controlled by technicians operating joysticks." Of note, drivers who carry the cams will vary from race to race, but we do know that Helio Castroneves, Danica Patrick (surprised?) and Dan Wheldon will be among those chosen for the opener.

[Image courtesy of G4TV, thanks Geoff]

Racing fans will be getting even more HD this season, since Championship Off Road Racing has announced it will be live in HD for the 2008 season, on SPEED HD and NBC. The season kicks off April 26th in LA, no word on if they follow NASCAR's lead and place in-truck HD cams (with the beating they take, we'd be very surprised if they did).

Fans of open wheel racing rejoice, ESPN and ABC have announced they will broadcast all 16 events of 2008 in high definition. Just like ESPN's "most advanced" NASCAR coverage, all the cameras covering the event will be HD, including in-car. The 16 races will consist of seven each aired on ESPN2 and ABC, two on ESPN, as well as 16 Indy Pro Series races that will air on ESPN2-HD. Last year's Indianapolis 500 was the first IndyCar event in HD and now its far from the last. ESPNews, ESPN U, X Games and now IndyCar have gotten the 720p treatment, we just want to know what they will do next.

Those who can already smell the rubber burning are probably antsy to see SPEED finally go HD in February, and while there's still a few weeks left until the channel serves up 100 hours of NASCAR coverage in high-definition, here's a few more details to tide you over. Starting on the 7th of next month, the channel will be covering the Gatorade Duel 150s, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, NASCAR RaceDay and loads more surrounding the 50th anniversary of the Daytona 500. Additionally, it's aiming to bring other (read: non-live events) programming to high-definition as well, and according to SPEED's senior VP of production and network operations Rick Miner, the channel will be "transitioning all of its event programming to HD" over the course of the 2008 season. Oh, and just in case that wasn't enough for you gearheads, expect an all new interactive website to launch alongside the HD network, too.

ESPN recently revealed its plans for broadcasting NASCAR races during the upcoming season, in what the network is calling "most technologically advanced in motorsports history". Every race will be done completely in HD, including in car cameras, pit crew, blimp and other angles. All of this goes along with the mobile studio ESPN will use to broadcast NASCAR Countdown shows from each race, and a radio room that allows ESPN to record and replay clips from any driver-pit crew transmissions. You can expect the full HD treatment on every Busch Series race this year (aired on ESPN2-HD) and the final 17 Nextel Cup races on ESPN and ABC. We've already come to expect top notch HD broadcasts from TNT, Fox and HDNet's coverage of the sport and it appears ESPN is ready to raise the bar yet again.

Love racing?
Love high definition?

Get happy, because more of both is coming your way. After inking a deal with NASA, HDNet has announced the broadcast schedule for their third season of NASCAR Grand National Series racing beginning April 20th from Phoenix. I haven't had a chance to see HDNet's NASCAR broadcast, are they up to the usual quality of Fox and NBC's high definition presentations?