IHRA on ESPN: How to watch

"After a nearly two-decade hiatus, the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) and ESPN have signed a multi-year agreement for the worldwide leader in sports to resume its partnership with the IHRA. The agreement is effective immediately; broadcasts begin when the 2017 IHRA Drag Racing season opens Feb. 3-5 at Immokalee Regional Raceway in Immokalee, Fla.

"ESPN will broadcast more than 200 hours of the 2017 IHRA Summit Sportsman National Championship via ESPN3, ESPN's live multi-screen sports network. ESPN3 will stream as much as eight continuous hours of each event's eliminations from 13 race weekends. Broadcasts will include on-track action, interviews, reports from the pits, features and more starting with this weekend's event near Fort Myers, Fla. IHRA Drag Racing last appeared on one of the ESPN networks in 1999."

But that raised a question for many racing fans: What is ESPN3, and how do I watch it?

That first question is easy: ESPN3 (formerly ESPN360 and ESPN3.com) is an online streaming service owned by ESPN, a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80 percent controlling ownership interest) and the Hearst Corporation (which holds the remaining 20 percent interest), that provides live streams and replays of global sporting events to sports fans in the United States, Australia, Brazil, Chile, the Middle East, New Zealand and Europe.

It has been around since 2005, and airs events that range from the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest to Major League Lacrosse. ESPN3 is part of the new WatchESPN.com package that includes essentially everything ESPN has, provided you have a TV or internet server package that is affiliated with the network.

This means you may have two opportunities to gain access to ESPN3 programming: either through an affiliated provider, such as DIRECTV or your cable system, or by getting your high-speed internet from an affiliate provider, such as, say, Morris Broadband or Gator.net or Getwireless.net. Also, active military members and on-campus students may have free access.

Personally, I have DIRECTV, and it took me less than five minutes to get access to ESPN3 on my laptop. Just follow the steps, create an account, and, like me, you can be watching, right this minute – um, Russian men's volleyball. So all the programming on ESPN3 isn't for everyone.

But once you get to ESPN3, there's a click-down menu for all sports: Click on auto racing, and the IHRA Summit Sportsman National Championship broadcasts through March are already listed.

Join us this weekend, either in person at Immokalee Regional Raceway (weekend forecast: High in the low 80s, low in the mid-50s, 10 percent chance of rain), or live on ESPN3.