NBC returned to cover the NASCAR Cup Series on Sunday at Iowa after Fox Sports completed its duties the earlier weekend at Sonoma after covering the season’s initial 16 races. NBC’s broadcast team consisting of Rick Allen, Steve Letarte, and Jeff Burton appears to have immediately struck a chord with the race audience as evidenced by the appreciation that has been flowing in from all fronts.
Advertisement
It ought to be noted that Fox Sports’ broadcast team which included Kevin Harvick, Mike Joy, and Clint Bowyer did an incredible job over the first half of the season. However, the network’s poor camera work and coverage bore a lot of brunt on multiple occasions. With NBC taking over the mantle in Iowa, fans have been quick to express their pleasure on X.
It’s a sold out crowd. We couldn’t imagine a more beautiful thing #IowaCorn350 pic.twitter.com/D2FxAdgKtG
— Iowa Speedway (@iowaspeedway) June 17, 2024
The views of fans at this point last year about which network was their favorite choice form an interesting base upon which the different outlooks in 2024 can be rested. An online poll conducted by the Daytona Beach New Journal revealed that 62.62% of 1,886 voters preferred Fox Sports over NBC. This was despite Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s presence in the NBC booth.
Fans left frustrated with Fox Sports’ Cup Series coverage in 2024
Two of the biggest changes in the broadcast booths this season were Dale Jr.’s departure from NBC and Kevin Harvick’s induction into Fox. By the laws of racing nature, this should mean that the favoritism scale leans towards Fox more so than ever. But that hasn’t been the case if the opinions of fans on social media hold any sort of weight.
With NASCAR fan channel Skewcar asking fans to rate NBC’s broadcast in Iowa on a scale of 1-10, followers were only too happy to give the network maximum points. One wrote, “9, I liked the broadcast much more than Fox.” Another followed it up, “9!! Much better than Fox’s broadcasts.” Yet another fan was mightily impressed by NBC that they want it to cover every single event on the calendar.
10-10. NASCAR On NBC Needs To Broadcast The ENTIRE NASCAR Cup Series Season With Practice/Qualifying, The Budweiser Shootout At DAYTONA, DAYTONA 500 Qualifying, Speedweeks, And Lastly, The DAYTONA 500.
— Jose Gomez (@JoseGom96071360) June 17, 2024
They wrote, “10-10. NASCAR On NBC Needs To Broadcast The ENTIRE NASCAR Cup Series Season With Practice/Qualifying, The Budweiser Shootout At DAYTONA, DAYTONA 500 Qualifying, Speedweeks, And Lastly, The DAYTONA 500.” More comments followed along the lines of “9.25 So very much better than “it’s Bowyer and the boys in the booth!”, and “9.5 it was so much better than the Fox coverage.” Will these thoughts change as the season progresses? Only time will tell. But undeniably, NBC has gotten off to a thunderous start.
