“20 years of trying, 20 years of disappointment,” this has to be one of Mike Joy’s most iconic calls when Dale Earnhardt Sr. won the 1998 Daytona 500. And over time, fans have their favorites from the booth…ones who sound best to their ears. And it’s no secret that it’s incredibly hard for women in NASCAR to reach the same success as men. Be it racing or be it broadcasting. Who are the top names that come to your mind other than Joy…maybe Ken Squier, Larry McReynolds…all men. But there is one woman who has gotten quite a bit successful. And still, she isn’t commonly mentioned.

If you still do not get who we are talking about…that’s exactly what we are addressing. Folks, Jamie Little became the first woman play-by-play commentator in NASCAR. She called the ARCA series in 2020 and then also added some Truck Series races to her resume in 2023. But it wasn’t well received by the fans. “Garb—“ was one of the nicest things a Reddit discussion on her commentary had. Also recently she was in the booth for another Truck race and guess what…the reactions were the same. This has probably led FOX to find a different, more suitable place for her.

Is Jamie Little going to IndyCar?

Jamie Little has been in broadcasting for a long time. 26 years to be exact. She joined FOX in 2015 as a pit reporter for the Cup and Xfinity Series and she was loved there. For the kind of questions, she asked and the overall presentation. But the same fans who love her on the pit road don’t want her in the box. And it’s kind of understandable. Fans have grown used to veteran voices and when someone new and a little less experienced comes along, it feels a bit odd.

That’s the reason for all the backlash FOX got when Little was named the play-by-play announcer for the Daytona Truck race. Along with Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano as analysts. The only relief fans had was seeing Harvick in the group. Next up we have the ‘Fr8 208’ on Atalanta Motor Speedway…but FOX has not yet announced the lineup for it. However, after the backlash and Little’s recent social media posts. An IndyCar move is a possibility.

Look at her recent post. The caption read: “Good to catch up with @RLLracing today as I emceed their partner summit. Taking quick notes on all things for @IndyCarOnFOX.” This confused fans but IndyCar reporter Nathan Brown took it up to shed some light. He wrote: “I continue to hear more & more about an @IndyCar pit reporter role for Jamie with @FOXSports. That could (& I believe will) extend beyond the Month of May, which she’s already confirmed. And yet, this group is still yet to be buttoned up, just over a week until cars are on-track.”

However, what this means is that the move is still not official. But an IndyCar move for Little might be great at this point. Especially with the current IndyCar landscape changing, like they have a charter system starting in 2025. And, this also marks the first time FOX will be broadcasting the entire IndyCar season, including the Indy 500. They have hyped it up a lot. You all have seen all the creative Ads. So a lot of eyeballs are gonna be on the 2025 IndyCar season.

And this might be the perfect time for Jamie Little to cement her place there. Maybe FOX offers her a commentary opportunity there as well. And fans might actually like her there. Also, she’s not a rookie when it comes to IndyCar. She started her broadcasting career with the series back in 2004 while working with ESPN/ABC as a reporter.

However, Little must currently be in a fix on what to pick. Now that FOX has bounced back after previously disappointing the fans at the ‘Cookout Clash.’

FOX gets applauded for Daytona 500 coverage

The 2025 Cup Series season for FOX did not start on a good note. NASCAR had brought ‘The Clash’ to the iconic Bowman Gray Stadium. However, FOX could not keep up that hype in their filming standards. The race was thrilling, with Chase Elliott’s dominance and a ton of action. But post the race fans complained about how FOX showed it. Sometimes the view was too tight on a driver. And at times they stayed on just one driver for very long. Basically, fans wanted a wider view of the race.

Things only got worse for FOX after BGS. The next race was NASCAR’s biggest of the season…it’s also considered bigger than the championship race. But FOX had only one mundane Ad to hype up the Daytona 500. Meanwhile, they launched a whole series of ads for IndyCar. Fans felt betrayed, as the broadcaster did not equally prioritize NASCAR.

However, after the Daytona 500, things seem to be coming back on track. The broadcast was great and, more importantly, it felt seamless with FOX cutting down on the Ads. The broadcast had just 18 minutes of full-screen ads this year in the Daytona 500, compared to 46 minutes last year. In all, this year had four fewer minutes of commercials than last year (53 minutes vs 57 minutes). It might not seem much here…but it makes a difference.

Also, FOX made use of a lot of box ads. Basically, a side-by-side technique, showing live racing action on a split screen with commercials. Even the Sports Business Journal reported that this move was applauded by fans as they did not miss any racing action. The good news is that they will be doing this in the next races as well. So maybe Jamie Little should stick around.

What did you think of the Daytona 500 broadcast? Do you think Jamie Little should go to IndyCar or stay with NASCAR?