NBC Sports’ play-by-play commentator for the NASCAR Cup Series, Leigh Diffey has often expressed the desire to call arguably the sport’s biggest event, the Daytona 500. “I’d feel pretty good if I got a chance to call the Daytona 500 one day,” hoped the 53-year-old on a podcast from 2023. Since then, Diffey has taken on the role of commentating for NBC Sports’ share of the NASCAR Cup season starting in 2024.
Advertisement
With the 67th running of the famed 500-mile-long event in Florida upcoming, there is only one hurdle that stands in the Australian-American’s way. Diffey touched on how the Daytona 500 is broadcast on Fox Sports and not NBC, which is a huge disadvantage given his alliance with the latter broadcasting giant.
“It’s on the wrong network at the moment. As far as global big-ticket events around the world in motorsport, I’ve pretty much done them. Le Mans, Rolex 24 at Daytona, Formula One Monaco Grand Prix, Indy 500, Dakar Rally, MotoGP. I’ve been very very fortunate to do a lot of cool events around the world but doing Daytona would be neat,” Diffey elaborated on the Aweful Announcing podcast back in 2023.
Fox Sports has been the sole broadcasting network for the Daytona 500 since 2007, before which both NBC and Fox shared the rights to the rights to the season opener. Despite the new broadcast deal signed by NASCAR and the introduction of players such as Amazon Prime and TNT Sports, the famed event at the tri-oval in Florida remains exclusive to Fox, at least till the 2031 season according to their contract.
Diffey did not let that hamper his spirits, despite the possibility of him calling the event bleak. A new broadcast deal post-2031 or a switch to NBC Sports’ rival broadcaster seem like the only ways the veteran announcer’s dream could be fulfilled.
“For now, just keep trying to be, even though I’ve been this for 25-26 years, just keep trying to be better. Everybody can be better in everything they do. Keep having fun. Keep delivering not only for NBC but for the viewers,” he added.
In a perfect world, Diffey calling the 67th Daytona 500 coupled with IndyCar star Helio Castroneves‘ debut in the sport could be a match made in heaven not only for the announcers who are calling it, but the fans who are watching, just as Diffey alluded to.
While the same is not meant to be this year, fans can still look forward to Fox’s broadcast of the event, which is slated to go live on February 16, 2025, at 2:30 pm ET.
