Nicole Briscoe certainly knows her stuff in the world of motorsports. Her husband, Ryan, is an open-wheel racer for Wayne Taylor Racing in the ISMA WeatherTech Championship. She was at the Speed Channel before making her way to Bristol. In fact, ESPN initially brought her in as part of the network’s NASCAR coverage. When that ended, Nicole was moved to the SportsCenter desk, and that is where she is going to stay.
ESPN gave Briscoe a multi-year extension late last week. She has been with SportsCenter for the last five years. She called the gig a dream come true in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“It used to be like adult Disney World to me, right? And it was professionally the place I dreamed of working from the time I was a little kid,” Briscoe said in an interview. “I remember the first couple of times I got to drive on campus. I was just in awe of it. You could hear the ‘dah-dah-dah, dah-dah-dah’ in your head. The first time I sat down on the set and had to do my audition on the set or I would see people like Stuart Scott and Chris Berman and John Anderson and Kenny Mayne. I’d see those guys walking through the halls. And the first time I sat on the set to do a show with John Buccigross and John Anderson and those guys, all of those are moments in your life where you want to be really present and remember because you worked really hard to get to that point. But you also never want to take it for granted, either, because there a lot of people who may never get the opportunity. And I am very aware of both of those aspects of my life. I’m still in awe of the situation.”
While Briscoe told the paper that she never wants to rule out what her future could entail, she said that being a part of that show on that network is something she holds dear.
“There was a day I was so nervous just to be sitting on the set and how while you’re still in awe of the four letters and what they mean and what they bring in terms of entertainment to so many people, it’s also home in a lot of ways,” Briscoe said. “And it’s humbling to be able to go into people’s homes and be part of their morning routines. It just kind of made me smile, because that kid who dreamed of being here is doing this, is living this every day, and it’s just as fun as I’d have imagined.”
