Nicole Briscoe became a SportsCenter anchor and studio show host in early 2015 after working in various roles in ESPN’s NASCAR coverage from 2008-2014. In addition to anchoring SportsCenter, Briscoe also has contributed to X Games coverage as a host and reporter and filled in as host on several ESPN Radio programs. She also served as host for ABC’s telecast of the Indianapolis 500 in 2018.
She was host of the pre-race NASCAR Countdown program from 2011-2014, and a host and reporter for the news program NASCAR Now from 2008-2014, before ESPN’s coverage of live NASCAR races came to an end at the conclusion of the 2014 season. She joined ESPN in 2008 as Nicole Manske, prior to her 2009 marriage to racing driver Ryan Briscoe, who at the time raced in the IndyCar Series and now competes in sports car racing.
Before coming to ESPN, Briscoe worked for two years as co-host of a motorsports news program on the SPEED Channel. Previously, she was a sports reporter at WISH-TV, the CBS affiliate in Indianapolis, where she was first exposed to auto racing through covering the Indianapolis 500. She also covered the Indianapolis Colts, Indiana Pacers and college basketball in her first on-air sports position. She later worked as a pit reporter for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network on the Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400 as well as IndyCar Series race broadcasts before joining SPEED in July, 2006.
Briscoe started her TV career as a general assignment reporter at WREX-TV, the NBC affiliate in Rockford, Ill., near her hometown of Roscoe, Ill., while still in college in 1999 at Northern Illinois University. She also worked as a weekend news and weather anchor and producer. She became a news reporter and fill-in anchor in September, 2001, for WANE-TV, the CBS affiliate in Ft. Wayne, Ind., before moving to Indianapolis in April, 2004.