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| NASCAR on NBC | |
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 The fourth and currentNASCAR on NBC network TV logo, used on-air since July 1, 2017 | |
| Genre | Auto racing telecasts |
| Presented by |
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| Theme music composer |
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| Opening theme |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | |
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| Production locations |
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| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
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| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
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| Release | 1979 (1979) – 1981 (1981) |
| Release | 1983 (1983) – 1985 (1985) |
| Release | November 13, 1999 (1999-11-13) – November 19, 2006 (2006-11-19) |
| Release | July 5, 2015 (2015-07-05) – present |
| Related | |
NASCAR on NBC (visually branded asNBC NASCAR in logos shown within on-air graphics andnetwork promotions) is the branding used for broadcasts ofNASCAR races that are produced byUSA Sports, and televised on theNBC broadcast network andPeacock streaming service in the United States. NBC originally aired races, typically during the second half of the season, from November 13,1999 to November 19,2006.
On July 23, 2013, NBC signed a new agreement with NASCAR to obtain the rights to races from theNASCAR Cup Series,NASCAR Xfinity Series,ARCA Menards Series East,ARCA Menards Series West andNASCAR Whelen Modified Tour seasons starting in 2015.[1] In addition, NBC Universal also gained the rights to theNASCAR Toyota Series starting in 2014, airing on its Spanish-language network channels initially for selected races, with NBC obtaining Spanish-language rights to all NASCAR series starting in 2015. In 2023, NBC signed a new 7 year agreement effective in 2025 to broadcast the last 14 NASCAR Cup Series races of the season. Beginning in 2026, all 14 races will be produced as part ofNASCAR on USA Sports, following the formation ofVersant, formed after aspin-off of most of NBCUniversal's cable channels, of which NBC will broadcast only 4 races.
Prior to the original 1999 contract between NASCAR and NBC, the network aired races such as theNational 500 atCharlotte Motor Speedway from1979[2][3][4] to1981,[5] the 1981Mountain Dew 500[6] atPocono International Raceway, theWinston 500 atAlabama International Motor Speedway from1983[7][8] to1985, and theMiami 300[9] andPennzoil 400 atHomestead-Miami Speedway in both1999[10] and2000.[11]
During the 1970s and 1980s, NBC often pre-recorded coverage of NASCAR races, with the edited broadcasts airing as part of the network's sportsanthology seriesSportsworld.
On November 11, 1999,[12] NASCAR signed a five-year,US$2.48 billion contract which split the American television rights for NASCAR races betweenFox, its cable partnerFX,NBC andTurner Sports.[13] The contract began in 2001 and went as follows.
As 2001 began, however, Turner Sports decided to make a change to its broadcast arrangement. At the time,Turner Broadcasting was in the midst of a format change for its cable channelTNT that was to make it a drama-centric network. To keep with the branding the network took on, "We Know Drama", Turner Sports decided to make TNT be NBC's cable partner and end the seventeen-year relationship TBS had with NASCAR.
The initial NBC/TNT broadcast team consisted ofAllen Bestwick on play-by-play. Bestwick had been tabbed by NBC for its coverage of the first two Cup Series race weekends held atHomestead-Miami Speedway, and had been the lead broadcaster for TBS for the last two years. NBC signedBenny Parsons away from ESPN to serve as lead analyst, and later added former driverWally Dallenbach Jr. after Dallenbach stepped away from full-time competition following the 2000 season. The lead pit road reporter wasBill Weber, formerly of ESPN. He was joined by fellow ESPN alumni Dave Burns andMatt Yocum, the latter of whom also signed on for Fox’s coverage, andCNNSI motorsports reporter Marty Snider.
In 2006, NBC moved the conclusion of Daytona 500 qualifying to FOX-owned SPEED at 3pm Eastern Time, with NBC graphics and commentary retained. The move was due to conflicts with the 2006 Olympic Winter Games. The postponed Budweiser Shootout was then seen on TNT. It would be the only time that NBC/TNT would carry it's NASCAR coverage on SPEED.[14]
Some of the regular features of NBC's race coverage were:
During the broadcasts' opening sequence later in the run of the initial contract, a driver can be heard shouting over his radio, "Good job guys, good job." The audio for this clip was taken fromRusty Wallace after his win during the spring 2004 race atMartinsville Speedway.
TheMetallica song "Fuel" was used as the theme song for NBC andTNT's NASCAR broadcasts from mid-2001 to the 2003 season, and was also used for the2004 Daytona 500 (which aired on NBC), with the song's instrumental backing used as background music and commercial bumpers. However, for part of the2001 season, the opening scream used in the opening was removed because of its close association with terrorists in the wake of theSeptember 11 attacks. The use of aheavy metal song was intended by producer Sam Flood to create a "rock-and-roll feel, musically, setting the tone for telecasts."[15]
The pre-release version of the song entitled "Fuel For Fire" (with different lyrics) was released as part of theNASCAR Full ThrottleCD.
In October 2005, NBC announced that it might not renew its contract end of the NASCAR contract after the2006 season, largely because of its acquisition of theSunday Night Football telecast fromESPN.
The restructured broadcast deal awarded Fox the rights to the Daytona 500 from2007 until 2014. The contract also allowedESPN andABC to regain NASCAR rights, taking the second half of the season's races; meanwhile, TNT retained its broadcast rights and signed a contract to air six mid-season races. The ESPN family of networks became the exclusive home of theNASCAR Busch/Nationwide Series as part of the contract, replacing TNT, NBC, Fox and FX as broadcasters.
As the NFL and NASCAR contracts overlapped during the2006 Chase for the Nextel Cup, some of NBC's post-race shows were moved toCNBC in order to allow the broadcast network'sNFL pre-game showFootball Night in America to start on time.
On July 23, 2013, NASCAR announced a nine-year contract with NBC Sports to broadcast the final 20 races of theNASCAR Cup Series season (from theCoke Zero Sugar 400[16] atDaytona International Speedway through theFord EcoBoost 400 at Homestead from 2015 to 2017; in2018 and2019, NBC's coverage started atChicagoland and ended at Homestead and since 2020 starts in Chicagoland and ends at Phoenix), the final 19 races of theXfinity Series season, along with coverage of selectregional series events and theNASCAR Mexico Series, succeeding both former partners TNT and ESPN. The deal also awarded NBC Sports the rights to provide coverage on digital platforms, rights to Spanish-language coverage forTelemundo and mun2 (nowUniverso), broadcast rights to theNASCAR Hall of Fame induction ceremony and post-season awards banquets. The deal runs from 2015 to 2024, although the Mexico Series race atPhoenix International Raceway began in 2014.
The majority of NBC's NASCAR coverage under the new contract will air onNBCSN (which was swapped to the USA Network after the former network's closure), however seven (ten in 2023 and 2024) races will be broadcast by the NBC broadcast network; in 2015 and 2016, they were theCoke Zero Sugar 400, theBojangles' Southern 500 atDarlington, the Chase races atCharlotte andKansas, and the last three races (Texas, Phoenix and Homestead-Miami) consecutively.
NBC Sports took over the portion of the contract previously held by ESPN and Turner Sports. While financial details were not disclosed, NBC reportedly paid 50% more than the $2.7 billion paid by ESPN and Turner combined under the previous contract.[1][17][18]
Former Turner Sports executive Jeff Behnke serves as vice president of NASCAR programming for NBC Sports.[19]
NBC began to lead into its new contract in February 2014 with the premiere of a nightly news and analysis program,NASCAR America, on NBCSN, and a broadcast of theToyota 120 fromPhoenix International Raceway – the opening event of the2014 season of the NASCAR Toyota Series, on mun2.[20][21]
On February 3, 2015, NBC Sports announced an agreement to air 39 regional series races from theARCA Menards Series East andWest,Whelen Modified Tour andWhelen Southern Modified Tour on NBCSN.[22]
The first U.S.-series race under the contract wasThe Hart to Heart Breast Cancer Foundation 150—the first race of the2015 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East season—atNew Smyrna Speedway, and was aired on February 19 onNBCSN.[23][24][25]
DuringSummer Olympic years (three during the contract, in2016,2021, and2024), NBC will assign different NBCUniversal channels to air races as a result of scheduling conflicts. For 2016,CNBC (used forEnglish Premier League,IndyCar, andFormula One for NBCSN conflicts) carried Sprint Cup and Xfinity qualifying along with one Xfinity race, andUSA Network (which will also be used for Premier League conflicts) carried two Xfinity andone Sprint Cup race.[26] In 2021, the Cup Series schedule took two weeks off from competition to minimize any conflict with the Olympics; the Watkins Glen race ran on the day of the Games' closing ceremony. The one Xfinity Series race that occurred during the Games (at Watkins Glen) aired on CNBC, in 2024 the cup series once again took two weeks off to minimize conflict with the games and aireda Cup Series race on USA Network during the closing ceremony of the games, however the Xfinity series will also do the same for three weeks, with no races of any NASCAR series airing during the Olympics.[27] If a NASCAR race is postponed to Monday and it conflicts with anEnglish 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.
In 2020, due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, the NBC team initially broadcast all races from the broadcast booth atCharlotte Motor Speedway with only 2-3 pit reporters onsite. Although NBC has a small studio in Charlotte forNASCAR 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 the2020 Stanley Cup playoffs throughout the show's timeslot in July and August. The show now airs only as a pre-race & post-race show with some airings on Peacock.
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 thatUSA Network would begin "carrying and/or simulcasting certain NBC Sports programming," including theStanley Cup playoffs and NASCAR races, before NBCSN's shutdown.Peacock, NBCUniversal's new streaming service, would also carry some of the network's former programming starting in 2022.[28][29] The move was cited by industry analysts as a response to the impact of theCOVID-19 pandemic on thesports andtelevision industries, the acceleration ofcord-cutting, as well as formidable competition from rival sports networks such asESPN andFox Sports 1.[30]
On November 29, 2023, NBC extended its contract through 2031; beginning in the 2025 season, NBC's coverage was significantly reduced, consisting of only the final 14 races of the Cup Series season. The rights to the Xfinity Series moved exclusively toThe CW.[31][32] On April 11, 2024, as part of a sublicensing agreement serving as a prelude to the new contract, it was announced that the final eight races of the2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series would be moved to The CW, with NBC Sports producing the broadcasts.[33]
On November 12, 2025, it was announced thatUSA Sports, formed after NBCUniversalspun off most of their cable business asVersant, would receive NBC's portion of the Cup Series schedule beginning in 2026. For that year, USA would air 10 of the races, while the broadcasts for the summer Daytona race and the final three races of the season, including the Cup Series Championship, would still air on NBC but be produced by USA Sports.[34][35][36]
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On December 3, 2013,Jeff Burton was confirmed as the first member of the broadcast team and is one of the color commentators.[37]
On December 4, 2013,Rick Allen, who previously worked at Fox Sports as an announcer for itsNASCAR Craftsman Truck Series coverage as well as for severalXfinity Series races, signed a multi-year contract to serve as the lead announcer for NBC's race broadcasts, a position he held until Michigan in August 2024.[38]
On January 9, 2014, it was confirmed thatSteve Letarte would leave his role asDale Earnhardt Jr.'s crew chief atHendrick Motorsports and join NBC Sports as a color analyst.[39] Behnke explained that the on-air makeup of NBC Sports' broadcasts would have "a relevancy that hasn't been seen in a long, long time", citing the recent involvements of both Burton and Letarte in NASCAR prior to their move to broadcasting.[19]
On June 1, 2015,Brian Vickers announced viaTwitter that he would be joining the telecasts of theNew Hampshire andMichigan races.
Leigh Diffey, lead announcer for NBC's IndyCar coverage, announced via Twitter he would be commentating at some Xfinity races for NBC. Additionally, Diffey would be lead announcer for the Cup races at Watkins Glen & Michigan in 2017.
The pit reporters for 2018 consisted ofDave Burns, Marty Snider,Kelli Stavast,Parker Kligerman (who replaced Mike Massaro following the 2016 season), andRalph Sheheen, Burns and Snider were with NBC's original NASCAR pit crew, while Massaro joins from ESPN's NASCAR team and Stavast from the network's sports car coverage.[40][41] The pre-race show was hosted by former Fox reporterKrista Voda along with former ESPN analystDale Jarrett, former TNT analystKyle Petty, andTop Gear hostRutledge Wood.[19][20][42]
On April 15, 2015, it was announced thatRalph Sheheen andRay Evernham would be part of the booth of the NBCSN telecasts of the Whelen Modified Tour and Whelen Southern Modified Tour.[43]
On September 1, 2015, it was announced thatKen Squier[44] andNed Jarrett would commentate a portion of the2015 Bojangles' Southern 500 along with currentNASCAR on NBC commentator Dale Jarrett. Squier was also in the broadcast booth for Sprint Cup Series final practice.[45] This has become a standard tradition at the Southern 500, due to NASCAR designating the race as a throwback weekend where teams bring retro paint schemes to the track.
On September 11, 2015, it was announced thatCarl Edwards would be in the NBCSN broadcast booth as a guest analyst for the Xfinity race atRichmond alongside Dale Jarrett and Diffey.[46]Jamie McMurray was a guest analyst for the NXS race at Chicagoland.[47]
On July 24, 2017, it was announced thatDale Earnhardt Jr. would join theNASCAR on NBC broadcasting team for the 2018 season, incidentally reuniting with his former crew chief Letarte.[48]
In November 2017, it was announced thatBob Costas would co-anchor NBC's pre-race coverage leading into theNASCAR Cup Seriesfinale fromHomestead.[49] alongsideKrista Voda, Similarly, in the 2018 Cup race at Daytona, NBC'sMike Tirico appeared on the pre-race show.[50]
In July 2019, it was announced thatDanielle Trotta will join NBC Sports’ NASCAR coverage as host of the “Victory Lap” post-race show for select Cup Series races this year.
On July 28, 2020, it was announced thatBrad Daugherty would be an analyst forNASCAR on NBC from the firstMichigan International Speedway race onwards.[51] 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 February 29, 2024,The Athletic reported thatDale 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.[52]
On May 14, 2024, it was officially announced thatJimmie Johnson would join theNASCAR on NBC team as a color commentator for two races in 2024.[53] However, he ended up being a studio analyst from the NBC Peacock Pit Box for those races instead of in the booth.
While Fox Sports innovated the practice of using the team's number fonts (such as the Petty #43 or Jeff Gordon's #24) in their on-screen graphics, NBC took the next step by using these fonts in the running order graphic at the top of the screen, starting with the2001 Pepsi 400. This was only used for Winston Cup broadcasts on NBC, while TNT races and all Busch Series races (regardless of network) used a generic font with a blue background. This practice was dropped after theinaugural race at Kansas, and starting atCharlotte all then-Winston Cup Series broadcasts used a generic font in the running order with a limited number of background colors to roughly correspond with the car. The accurate colors and fonts returned when NBC's coverage resumed in 2015, and by then this had become common practice for most TV networks for major auto racing series.
In 2018, a new secondary leaderboard graphic was introduced and is displayed vertically on the left side of the screen, essentially the same thing as the graphic introduced inFox’s coverage earlier that year. However, unlike with Fox, NBC only used this leaderboard during portions of the race depending on the camera angles and picture or if they wanted to show more of the field on the leaderboard (up to 20 cars) at a time (with the leaderboard on the top of the screen, NBC only shows four cars at a time), whereas Fox used it for the entire race regardless of camera angles and picture (as of 2025, the latter of which is now also used by NBC).
From 2015–17, the intro for the revived run ofNASCAR on NBC was "Bringing Back the Sunshine" performed bycountry music artistBlake Shelton, who is also one of the coaches on NBC's own prime time hit show,The Voice. NBC introduced a new opening for their coverage starting in 2018, using a cover version of theTom Petty song "Runnin' Down a Dream", done byZZ Ward. No theme was used in 2020; the theme was accompanied by a video featuring fans, NBC executives cited that airing the theme when there were no fans in attendance at races would be inappropriate. In 2021, singerMarcus King used his song "The Well" for the new opening theme song. In 2023 and 2024, "Woohoo" by Jordan Baum was used as the intro song, but for theNASCAR Cup Series in 2024, it wasHighway Star byDeep Purple and was only used 3 times that year.
NBC'speacock logo bug turns green, yellow, red, or white when the respectiveracing flag is deployed. (This feature is absent on USA Network). This feature was removed in 2025.
Starting with the Cup Series race in Iowa, which aired on USA Network on August 3, 2025, NBC debuted a new dedicated graphics package specific to its NASCAR coverage. This was the first time NBC had updated its graphics since the aforementioned resumption of the network's NASCAR coverage a decade earlier. With this change, both of the NASCAR Cup Series major broadcast network partners (Fox and NBC) now use dedicated graphics packages (Fox debuted theirs in 2022).[citation needed]
USA Sports will close out the season with the final 14 races across USA Network, NBC and Peacock, starting at 3:30 p.m. ET on Aug. 9 from Iowa Speedway on USA Network. The season will culminate with the NASCAR Championship airing on NBC at 3 p.m. ET on Nov. 8 from Homestead-Miami Speedway.
| Preceded by | Daytona 500 television broadcaster 2001–2006 (even-numbered years only;Fox aired the Daytona 500 in odd numbered years) | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | NASCAR pay television carrier in the United States 1999–2006 (shared withFox from 2001–2006; andTNT from 2001–2006) | Succeeded by ESPN |
| Preceded by ESPN/TNT | NASCAR pay television carrier in the United States 2015–present (shared withFox,Prime Video andTNT Sports) | Succeeded by Incumbent |
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