Nicole Briscoe | |
|---|---|
| Born | Nicole Manske July 2, 1980 Wausau, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Education | Northern Illinois University |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Employer | ESPN |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
Nicole Briscoe (née Manske; born July 2, 1980) is an American sportscaster who is employed by ESPN. Originally focused on covering auto racing for the network,[1] which included stints as the host of NASCAR Countdown and NASCAR Now,[2] Briscoe became a SportsCenter anchor in 2015. She is married to IndyCar Series driver Ryan Briscoe.[3]
A native of Roscoe, Illinois, she graduated from Hononegah High School in 1998. She and future auto racer Danica Patrick were cheerleaders there in 1996.[4]
Nicole won the Miss Illinois Teen USA 1998 and competed in the Miss Teen USA pageant in Shreveport, Louisiana, in August 1998. Nicole was a semi-finalist in the pageant, placing third (of 10) in the evening gown competition, seventh in swimsuit and tenth in interview, placing her eighth overall on average. Two years after passing on her title, she competed in the Miss Illinois USA 2001 pageant and placed first runner-up to Rebecca Ambrosi.
Nicole attended Northern Illinois University in Dekalb, Illinois, earning her first job while at Northern Illinois for WREX-TV, the NBC station in Rockford. She worked as a general assignment reporter for WANE-TV in Fort Wayne, Indiana, before going to WISH-TV in Indianapolis, Indiana, in April 2004. During her career at WISH-TV, Nicole covered the Indianapolis 500, the United States Grand Prix, the NFL's Indianapolis Colts, and the NBA's Indiana Pacers. She was also a pit reporter for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network. In the May 15, 2006, edition of The Indianapolis Star, Nicole announced that she would be leaving WISH-TV for Speed Channel in Charlotte, North Carolina, with the 2006 Indianapolis 500 on May 28 being her last day.
Nicole was the co-host of The Speed Report (formerly Speed News), a Sunday motorsports program on Speed Channel. She replaced Connie LeGrand, and hosted the show from July 1, 2006, to January 27, 2008, when she left to become the new host of the daily news show NASCAR Now on ESPN2.[5]
From 2008 to 2014, Briscoe co-hosted the NASCAR pre-race shown on ESPN/ABC. Since 2015, she has served as a SportsCenter anchor.
She married Ryan Briscoe in an outdoor ceremony in Hawaii in 2009 and they have since had two daughters, Finley and Blake. In 2018, Ryan became a naturalized American citizen.
In a 2021 piece by People[6] to celebrate National Infertility Awareness Week, Briscoe shared her "harrowing journey toward becoming a mother," which included six intrauterine inseminations, multiple rounds of in vitro fertilization and several miscarriages.