RPM 2Night

*RPM 2Night*
RPM 2Night
	File:RPM 2Night logo 2000-2003.jpg
Genre	Sports; News program
Directed by	John Santagata (1999-2003)
Starring	John Kernan ; Kenny Mayne; Rece Davis; Whit Watson; Benny Parsons; Jerry Punch; Bill Weber; Robin Miller; Jon Beekhuis; Matt Yocum; Mike Massaro; Marlo Klain; Sally Larvick; Tom Higgins
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	30 minutes (22 minutes plus commercials)
Production company	ESPN
Original release
Network	ESPN2
Release	September 1995 –; November 16, 2003
Related
	Totally NASCAR

RPM 2Night is a former American nightly news program seen on ESPN2 that was devoted entirely to motorsports.

Programming history

The program aired six nights a week (except Saturday) from Labor Day weekend 1995 to November 16, 2003. Contributors were as follows:

Hosts	Tenure	Analysts	Tenure	Sanctioning Body Covered	Reporters	Tenure	Sanctioning Body Covered
John Kernan	Labor Day weekend in 1995 - November 16, 2003	Benny Parsons	1995 - 2000	NASCAR	Bill Weber	1995 - 2000	NASCAR
Kenny Mayne	Weekends, 1995 - August, 1997	Jerry Punch	1995 - 2003	NASCAR, CART, and IRL	Matt Yocum	1999 - 2000
Rece Davis	Weekends, August 20, 1997 - 2000	Bill Weber	1995 - 2000	NASCAR	Mike Massaro	2001 - 2003
Whit Watson	Weekends, 2000 - August 2003	Robin Miller	2001 - 2003	CART and IRL	Marlo Klain	1997 - 2003	CART and IRL
		Jon Beekhuis	1995 - 2001	CART	Sally Larvick	1996	IRL

On weekends where ESPN or ABC covered a Cup Series race, the weekend host would fill in on Fridays, and Mondays (if the race was postponed until then).

All forms of racing were included, whether it was the big-league racing of NASCAR, IndyCars, or Formula One, or the local Saturday night short tracks. "Eat My Dust," a Tuesday-night package of highlights of sprint cars and other vehicles racing on non-pavement tracks, was a cult favorite, along with the segment Open-Wheel Wednesday.

On Sunday mornings. a version titled RPM 2Day aired as a pre-race show before major events. During the month of May in 2002-2003, the daily coverage of the Indianapolis 500 practice was billed RPM 2Night at Indy.

The Monday through Friday versions of the show originated from ESPN Regional Television studios in Charlotte, NC, while the weekend versions originated from ESPN's main headquarters in Bristol, CT.

RPM2Night hit a major snag in 2001, when ESPN lost NASCAR rights in a consolidated TV package. Shortly after the sale of the rights, ESPN was told that it could only show NASCAR highlights on two programs: SportsCenter and ESPNEWS. From that point forward, RPM 2Night could only show still photographs from the weekly Winston Cup Series race. Furthermore, ESPN's reporters had their track credentials pulled. Interviews with drivers and other principals took place either at the track's parking lots or at nearby commuter airports.

Media reports of the time suggested that NASCAR imposed the new procedures to give a benefit to Fox Sports Net, which was launching a similar NASCAR-only show, Totally NASCAR, at the time. NASCAR officials denied this and claimed that they merely wanted to give ESPN an incentive to provide NASCAR more exposure on SportsCenter, which had a higher viewership.

RPM 2Night signed off for the last time on November 16, 2003.

ESPN produces shows devoted to the NHRA and IndyCar Series that air on race days only. They can be said to be spin-offs of RPM 2Night.

Programming history

See also