On October 15, 2012, NASCAR and the Fox Sports Media Group (FSMG) announced a new $2.4 billion eight-year deal, a 30% increase from their previous deal. [1] On July 23, 2013, NASCAR and the NBC Sports Group announced a new $4.4 billion ten-year deal. [2] [3] [4] Ten days later on August 1, 2013, NASCAR and Fox extended and expanded their agreement, paying an additional $1.4 billion to do so, to complete NASCAR's new TV package through the 2024 season. [5] [6] NBC reportedly bid over 50% more than ESPN and Turner for their portion of the package, despite Turner and ESPN expressing interest about continuing their relationship with NASCAR. [7]
In 2020, NASCAR created a worldwide television feed for broadcasts outside the United States. International broadcasters include Nippon TV, TSN, Viaplay Sports, Fox Sports Australia, Ziggo Sport Totaal, Arena Sport, Abu Dhabi Sports, FOX Sports Mexico, and BandSports.
Also in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic after the 4th race of the season Fox started using their Charlotte Studio to the maximum extent possible to avoid travel, ensure social distancing, and limit the number of staff onsite at races. The only on-air talent onsite was at most two pit reporters per race, all other talent was stationed at the Fox Studios in Charlotte.
Also due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NBC team initially broadcast all races from the broadcast booth at Charlotte Motor Speedway with only 1-2 pit reporters onsite. Although NBC has a small studio in Charlotte for NASCAR America segments, the studio was deemed too small to be able to do race broadcasts and maintain social distancing. For the Indianapolis race weekend, Mike Tirico hosted from the track; Tirico lives close enough to Indianapolis he was able to drive to the track to host. For the final 5 races of the season (starting with the Charlotte Roval Race) the NBC on-air team resumed travel to race sites.
NASCAR America stopped airing when the pandemic began and has not yet returned to air. NBC has cited other conflicting live events as the reason the program has not returned to air; NBCSN aired the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs throughout the show's timeslot in July and August.
On July 28, 2020, it was announced that Brad Daugherty would be an analyst for NASCAR on NBC from the first Michigan International Speedway race onwards. [8] At the conclusion of the 2020 season, Krista Voda revealed on social media she would not be returning to NBC. Voda stated NBC had elected to eliminate her position from race broadcasts.
On January 22, 2021, an internal memo sent by NBC Sports president Pete Bevacqua announced that NBCSN would cease operations by the end of the year, and that USA Network would begin "carrying and/or simulcasting certain NBC Sports programming," including the Stanley Cup playoffs and NASCAR races, before NBCSN's shutdown. Peacock, NBCUniversal's new streaming service, will also carry some of the network's former programming starting in 2022. [9] [10] The move was cited by industry analysts as a response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sports and television industries, the acceleration of cord-cutting, as well as formidable competition from rival sports networks such as ESPN and Fox Sports 1. [11]
During Summer Olympic years (three during the contract, in 2016, 2020, and 2024), NBC will assign different NBCUniversal channels to air races as a result of scheduling conflicts. In 2021, the Cup Series will take two weeks off to minimize any conflict with the Olympics; the Watkins Glen race will be run on the day of the Games' closing ceremony. The two Xfinity Series race that will take place during the Games (at Watkins Glen) will air on CNBC. If a NASCAR race is postponed to Monday and it conflicts with an English Premier League match, the race will move to USA (CNBC is also unavailable on weekdays due to its stock market coverage), though this has not happened yet as of the end of the 2020 season.
After the 2021 season, Jeff Gordon left Fox to work for Hendrick Motorsports full-time as the team's Vice Chairman. (He had previously worked with the team during the second half of the Cup Series season when NBC was broadcasting the races, after spending his entire full-time career with them). [12] Fox did not replace him with one permanent color commentator and instead filled his spot with rotating guest commentators as they do in the Xfinity, Truck and ARCA Series. Retired Cup Series driver Tony Stewart was the first guest color commentator and was in the booth for the Clash, the Daytona 500 and the race at COTA.
In July 2023, broadcast network The CW signed a TV rights deal to broadcast the NASCAR Xfinity Series from 2025 to 2031 for an estimated $115 million annual fee. [13]
In November 2023, NASCAR announced a television and streaming deal for the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Truck Series from 2025 to 2031 for a $1.1 billion annual fee. [14] [15] Fox Sports and NBC Sports will distribute 14 Cup races each, with five and four races on their broadcast networks respectively. Fox Sports [16] will continue to air early season spring races including the Daytona 500, while NBC will continue to show late-season fall races including the entire NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Amazon Prime Video will stream five Cup races in the early summer, as well as practice and qualifying for the first half of the season except for the Clash, Daytona 500 and All-Star Race. TNT will show the remaining five Cup races in the late summer, which will also be streamed on the Bleacher Report Sports Add-On on Max. Practice and qualifying will air on TruTV and Max for the second half of the season. It was also announced that Fox Sports would continue its arrangement with the Truck series from the previous media deal.
On February 29, 2024, The Athletic reported that Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose contract with NBC expired after the 2023 season, would reportedly be leaving NBC for Amazon and TNT's new NASCAR coverage in the next TV contract that starts in 2025. [17]
On May 7, 2024, it was officially announced that Earnhardt Jr. would make the move from NASCAR on NBC to Amazon and TNT's new NASCAR coverage, presumably continuing as a color commentator. [18]
On May 13, 2024, NASCAR announced that they would hold a mid-season bracket challenge for Cup Series teams that would take place during TNT's five races. The top 32 drivers from the three previous races who would be seeded in the bracket for the start of the tournament based on their finishes in those races. The driver who wins the bracket challenge will win $1,000,000. [19]
Date | Event (Track) | Network | Lap-by-lap announcer | Color commentator(s) | Pit reporter(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
February 3 | Busch Light Clash (LA Coliseum) | FS1 | Mike Joy | Clint Bowyer Kevin Harvick | Jamie Little Regan Smith |
February 15 | Bluegreen Vacations Duels (Daytona) | FS1 | Mike Joy | Clint Bowyer Kevin Harvick | Jamie Little Regan Smith Josh Sims |
February 19 | Daytona 500 | Fox | Mike Joy | Clint Bowyer Kevin Harvick | Jamie Little Regan Smith Josh Sims |
February 25 | Ambetter Health 400 (Atlanta) | Fox | Mike Joy | Clint Bowyer Kevin Harvick | Jamie Little Regan Smith |
March 3 | Pennzoil 400 (Las Vegas) | Fox | Mike Joy | Clint Bowyer Kevin Harvick | Jamie Little Regan Smith |
March 10 | Shriners Children's 500 (Phoenix) | Fox | Mike Joy | Clint Bowyer Kevin Harvick | Jamie Little Regan Smith |
The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a Cup Series event scheduled for that weekend.
"NASCAR realignment" refers to changes in the schedule of the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Phoenix Raceway is a 1-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona, near Phoenix. The motorsport track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually including the final championship race since 2020. Phoenix Raceway has also hosted the CART, IndyCar Series, USAC and the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The raceway is currently owned and operated by NASCAR.
NASCAR on NBC is the branding used for broadcasts of NASCAR races that are produced by NBC Sports, and televised on several NBCUniversal-owned television networks, including the NBC broadcast network in the United States. The network originally aired races, typically during the second half of the season, from 1999 to 2006.
Motor Racing Network (MRN) is a U.S. radio network that syndicates broadcasts of auto racing events, particularly NASCAR. MRN was founded in 1970 by NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr. and broadcaster Ken Squier, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of NASCAR. Its first broadcast was the 1970 Daytona 500.
The television and radio rights to broadcast NASCAR are among the most expensive broadcast rights of any American sport, with the current television contract with Fox Sports and NBC Sports being worth around US$8 billion.
Ryan Matthew Truex is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 19 and 20 Toyota Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing. Truex's older brother Martin was the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion.
Ryan Shane Sieg is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 39 Ford Mustang for RSS Racing. He is the younger brother of late former driver Shane Sieg and older brother of current teammate Kyle Sieg.
Ryan Michael Blaney is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 12 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Team Penske. He is the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion. He is the son of former NASCAR driver Dave Blaney and the grandson of modified dirt track racer Lou Blaney.
Ross Lee Chastain is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Trackhouse Racing, part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 92 Chevrolet Camaro for DGM Racing, and part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 45 Chevrolet Silverado for Niece Motorsports. He is the older brother of fellow NASCAR driver Chad Chastain.
Cole Matthew Custer is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 00 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing. He is the son of Joe Custer, the team president of Stewart-Haas Racing. He is the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion.
Christopher David Bell is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 20 Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing, part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 20 Toyota Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing, and part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driving the No. 1 Toyota Tundra for Tricon Garage. He is the 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion.
Austin Louis Cindric is an American professional auto racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 2 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Team Penske.
Garrett Kirk Smithley is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 4/6 Chevrolet Camaro for JD Motorsports. He has also previously competed in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and ARCA Menards Series.
Chase David Wayne Briscoe is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 14 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Stewart–Haas Racing. He also owns a World of Outlaws sprint car racing team, Chase Briscoe Racing. He won the 2016 ARCA Racing Series championship.
Bayley Alexander Currey is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 41 Chevrolet Silverado for Niece Motorsports. He has also competed in the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series in the past.
On December 7, 2005, NASCAR signed a new eight-year broadcast deal effective with the 2007 season, and valued at $4.48 billion, with Fox and Speed Channel, which would also share event rights with Disney-owned ABC, ESPN and ESPN2, as well as TNT. The rights would be divided as follows:
The 2020 EchoPark 250 was a NASCAR Xfinity Series race held on June 6, 2020, at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. Contested over 163 laps on the 1.54-mile (2.48 km) asphalt quad-oval intermediate speedway, it was the eighth race of the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series season and the season's first Dash 4 Cash race. Kaulig Racing part-time driver A. J. Allmendinger won his first ever race on a NASCAR oval.
The O'Reilly Auto Parts 150 at Mid-Ohio was a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race that is held at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course road course in Lexington, Ohio. Corey Heim is the defending winner of this race.