Stephens, Steele, Beisner complete team source: ESPN Rick Benjamin, a longtime veteran of motorsports television, and former driving champion Jon Beekhuis will be in the booth as coverage of the Champ Car World Series returns to ESPN in 2007. The renewed relationship will begin with the April 22 Champ Car race at Houston's Reliant Park street circuit. Beekhuis, who has been a pit reporter for most of his 16-year television career, will move into the booth as analyst this year with Benjamin, play-by-play announcer for Champ Car's TV coverage the past three years. Bill Stephens and Cameron Steele will report from the pits and Michelle Beisner will be a feature reporter on the telecasts. Benjamin is one of the most versatile auto racing announcers on television, having called the action for more than a dozen forms of motorsports for ESPN, SPEED, WTBS and TNN, as well as on MRN Radio. Beekhuis, the 1988 Indy Lights driving champion and a competitor in Champ Car for four seasons, started his television career as a pit reporter on ESPN's Champ Car coverage in 1991. Stephens also has a past association with ESPN, having covered NHRA drag racing on television and for ESPN Radio and ESPN.com. Steele, an active and successful off-road racer, joined the Champ Car TV team last year. Beisner has worked as a reporter for the NFL Network, Fox Sports Net and Rocky Mountain Sports in addition to her Champ Car television work last year. Thirteen events of the international open-wheel racing series are scheduled to be televised on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic and ESPN on ABC in 2007, with the networks exclusively airing the series in 2008. The networks have a long history with Champ Car that began in 1981 when the first race ever aired live on ESPN was a Champ Car event from Milwaukee won by Mike Mosley. Series events appeared on the networks through the 2001 season. Many of the great moments in the history of the series were seen live on ESPN and ABC including Alex Zanardi's 1997 win in Cleveland where he introduced the world to victory doughnuts and Mario Andretti's final Champ Car win at Phoenix in 1993.
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