9:00 p.m. (13) "American Masters: 'Tony Bennett: The Music Never Ends.

'" Writers Nick Tosches and Bruce Ricker (who also directed) present an excellent profile of Tony Bennett. It says less about Bennett's early life than it does about his place in the pantheon of great vocal interpreters. Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby are given their due here, but so are Enrico Caruso and Jimmy Durante.

Bennett discusses their influence on him, and chats amiably with music lover and showbiz veteran Clint Eastwood. Anthony Hopkins narrates; interview subjects range from Mitch Miller to Alec Baldwin (whose recent "SNL" impersonation of Bennett is included). 9:00 p.

m. (ABC) "NASCAR in Primetime." After tonight, this behind-the-scenes NASCAR summertime series drives off into the sunset.

Ratings weren't good enough to generate an extension. 10:00 (FX) "Rescue Me." Charles Durning, as Tommy's bitter dad, gets lots of screen time as the son (played by Denis Leary) is taken by his father on an outing they should have gone on long ago: to an amusement park and a baseball stadium.

10:00 p.m. (HBO) "Inside the NFL.

" This HBO series is the most-tenured show on cable television: It begins its 31st season tonight. 8:00 p.m.

(13) "Brown Is the New Green." George Lopez is the subject of this new documentary, which is subtitled "George Lopez and the American Dream" and shows the triumphs and difficulties in Lopez's rise in showbiz.