• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, April 3, 2007

Continuing to broaden its Web reach through acquisition, ESPN has acquired NASCAR fan site Jayski.com, founded in 1996 by Jay Adamczyk.

With top NASCAR crew chiefs, drivers and owners among its regular visitors, Jayski has positioned itself as a solid resource for super-fans, according to John Kosner, senior vice president and general manager of ESPN New Media.

"Jayski.com is, day-in and day-out, one of the most distinctive, authoritative voices for NASCAR fans online," Kosner said. "Jay's fan perspective informs everything he writes."

Adamczyk will continue to operate the site independent from ESPN. It will also feature prominently on ESPN's recently revamped NASCAR editorial section.

Jayski.com's relationship with ESPN extends back to 2004, when ESPN began hosting the site. Now, Adamczyk and partner Mark Garrow will serve as contributors for NASCAR coverage across all ESPN media--including on-air, online and radio and podcasting.

Speaking of the acquisition, Adamczyk said: "We'll have the resources to grow Jayski.com to serve NASCAR fans even better than it already does." Terms were not disclosed.

Jayski.com features some 1,500 pages of content on the NASCAR Nextel Cup, the Busch Series and Truck Series. Some popular features of the site include Jayski's NASCAR News and Rumors, Team Pages and the Jayski Paint Scheme section.

Recognizing the threat posed by upstart bloggers and mainstream rivals, ESPN earlier this year also bought TrueHoop.com, a popular sports blog covering the NBA, and signed TrueHoop's founder Henry Abbott as an NBA expert.

One of ESPN.com's mainstream rivals is Sports Illustrated's SI.com, which is itself attempting to grow through site extensions and acquisitions. Last fall, SI launched a customizable desktop application for super-fans named MySI.com. And more recently, it acquired FanNation--a site for fans and fantasy gamers to blog, track players and share comments--along with a high school sports online network named Takkle.

A redesign of FanNation will launch April 16, announced SI.com managing editor Paul Fichtenbaum at Time Inc.'s digital briefing last week.