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A consumer’s guide to the best and worst of sports media and merchandise. Ground rules: If it can be read, played, heard, observed, worn, viewed, dialed or downloaded, it’s in play here. One exception: No products will be endorsed.

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What: “NASCAR Drivers: 360.”

Where: FX, Friday, 7:30 p.m.

This new eight-episode weekly series provides a behind-the-scenes look at NASCAR drivers leading up to and during race day. The first show features Kevin Harvick and brothers Rusty and Kenny Wallace.

The three are shown at home with family members and at work interacting with crew members and other colleagues as they prepare for race weekend at Rockingham, N.C.

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Executive producers Tony Krantz (“24,” “Sports Night”) and Scott Messick (“Survivor”) were given total access. The one-hour show is well produced, and racing and non-racing fans should find it interesting.

It includes such things as good-natured barbs exchanged between Harvick and his wife DeLana, Rusty Wallace flying in his private jet to Pittsburgh on a business trip, and Kenny Wallace attending his 13-year-old daughter’s basketball game.

The highpoint is the drama of race day. Kenny Wallace, competing in the Saturday Busch Grand National race, has the fastest run in practice, then is left frustrated by a mechanical problem during qualifying. He has to wheel and deal to find a ride in another car.

The highs and lows Rusty Wallace and Harvick go through the next day during the Nextel Cup race are well-chronicled and make for captivating viewing.

Subsequent episodes will be shown Fridays at 10 p.m.

-- Larry Stewart

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