Rhode Island’s Allen Bestwick now is working for ESPN.

JOURNAL FILE PHOTO

When a TV network either gets into or out of a particular sport, there are tense moments for everyone in the business. It’s a game of musical chairs, except that when the music stops and you don’t find a seat in time, you’re likely out of a job.

Witness the changes that affected all the “talent” among the networks carrying NFL games when Sunday Night Football went to NBC, Monday Night Football went to ESPN, and the NFL Network started broadcasting Thursday-night games.

That same sort of thing just happened in auto racing. And one of the many waiting for the music to stop when NBC decided it wanted out of NASCAR and ESPN wanted back in was Rhode Island’s Allen Bestwick.

Fortunately for him, Bestwick was one of several NBC on-air personalities to find a new home with ESPN as it goes full-throttle into NASCAR coverage for 2007 — with half the Nextel Cup series and all 35 Busch Series races, beginning with today’s Orbitz 300 at Daytona.

“When these things come up, it’s always a fine balance between networks wanting to get the people that they think are going to fit best what they do and not wanting to stock themselves with people too well-associated with another network. ESPN wanted to be ESPN and not just NBC moved over.

“So when this all started I just wondered ‘What side of the fence am I going to land on?’ And fortunately for me, ESPN decided that they wanted me and they snapped me up. It’s always good to have a job.”

Bestwick joins a lineup that includes Jerry Punch, former Nextel Cup driver Rusty Wallace and former Nextel Cup crew chief Andy Petree in the booth, with Bestwick, Dave Burns, Mike Massaro and Jamie Little as pit reporters.

Bestwick says ESPN is going all-out with its NASCAR coverage. “I have to admire the commitment they’ve made to it. They’re giving it what I call the full Monday Night Football treatment.”

Bestwick has done studio-based shows for other networks along the way. It’s still possible that he may find himself working with one or more of the several midweek shows ESPN has in the pipeline.

“They have such a vast pool of programming developed, I don’t know the answer to it yet,” Bestwick said. “They’re working fast and furious to pull it all together. And the last thing they need at this point are phone calls from me asking “What do you want me to do?’ ”

In addition to all 35 NBS races, ESPN and ESPN on ABC will telecast practice and qualifying from 17 races, the season-ending banquet and season preview and review specials. There also will be a dedicated pre-race program for each race, called NASCAR Busch Series Countdown as well as coverage of the Busch Series in ESPN2’s NASCAR news and information program, NASCAR Now. And, for the first time in televised motorsports, all will be produced in High Definition.

“The main difference for me this year, aside from there being a different logo on my chest and working with a different group of people, is that I’ll be going 35 weeks instead of 20,” said Bestwick. “ESPN has the full Busch Series schedule, so I’ll be out there every week versus half the season like I’ve done the last six years.”

ESPN aired 262 NASCAR Cup Races over a 20-year period starting in 1981. The network’s award-winning, live flag-to-flag coverage on ESPN was honored with 17 Sports Emmy Awards, as well as many other industry honors. It is widely credited for helping to popularize the sport nationwide. NASCAR races have appeared on ABC for decades, beginning with broadcasts on the award-winning Wide World of Sports program in the 1960s.

mschmied@projo.com