FOX Sports has more often than not found itself on the short end of the stick when it comes to NASCAR fans’ opinions of the broadcast giant’s quality of broadcast. However, as the 2025 Cup Series season kicked off at Bowman Gray Stadium this weekend, followers of the sport were pleasantly surprised by what they witnessed on screen.
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The 2025 Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray not only saw NASCAR return to the iconic ‘Madhouse’, but also fans appreciative of the TV coverage. Several fans took to social media to voice their opinions, with a significant bunch replying to notable stock car racing journalist Jordan Bianchi’s post on X which read, “I may be mistaken, but I don’t think Fox has taken a full-screen commercial break while the race has been under green.”
Fans were quick to jump in on the conversation as one follower demanded, “Should be this way for every race.” While they opined on how fewer commercial breaks during the race, or none in this case, were the way to go, another fan chimed in with high regard, “Correct. I appreciate it.”
I just noticed the same thing, hopefully that continues throughout the rest of the year.
— Erik_22 (@erik_S22) February 3, 2025
“Man they still need to zoom out, but I do appreciate the side-by-side,” wrote one fan, offering constructive criticism for the broadcast giant to look into as the season progresses.
However, everyone was not seemingly pleased with the action, with one fan managing to find a chink in FOX armor at Winston-Salem, writing, “Correct. But they miss action by cutting to the crowd during battles and using zoomed-in shots and bumper cameras where we can’t see what’s going on.”
What is the issue with FOX Sports’ NASCAR coverage?
The broadcasting giant is one of the many partners this year who are in charge of supplying the fans at home with racing action from the track as the season progresses. With competition not just from NBC Sports, but also from the likes of Amazon Prime and TNT, FOX Sports seems to have upped their game.
Their coverage from the 2024 season was mostly called out for the excessive display of commercial breaks during the races, coupled with missing key events during the race. Fans also bashed them for their sometimes uninspiring commentary and the underlying sentiment was that NBC Sports, who covered the sport for the latter part of the year did a much better job.
With the likes of Leigh Diffey, a fan-favorite play-by-play commentator in NBC’s arsenal, FOX seemingly has listened to the fans with reduced advertisements. It now remains to be seen if the criticisms of their camera shooting abilities will be improved upon as the current season progresses.
