Controversial Insider Questions NASCAR’s Genius After Fox’s Shocking “Budget Cut” Jeopardizes Fan Outreach

NASCAR’s new TV deal collaborating with new market forces has already started to show its effect in 2024. FOX Sports has been a long-serving partner for NASCAR for over two decades, and the new deal will keep them in a loop to cover Cup races from 2025 onwards, but the experience just won’t be the same.

The broadcaster recently announced that they won’t be airing the NASCAR Race Hub, the one-hour daily program, from next month onwards. The Race-Hub debuted in 2009, first on the Speed channel, and then transitioned to Fox Sports 1 in 2013. However, the show will cease to exit after airing the last show on June 11.

Although a similar show is expected to return on CW from next season onwards, Brett Griffin isn’t pleased with this move. During the recent episode of the Door Bumper Cleaner podcast show, he shared his reason why NASCAR decided to call it quits on the popular TV show.

Brett Griffin isn’t impressed by NASCAR’s decision to call off the Race Hub

The show not only featured several hosts dissecting and analyzing Cup Series races but also became a platform for crew chiefs and analysts. Jammie McMurray, David Ragan, and Michael Waltrip were among the former drivers still involved with the show. Moreover, the fans will also miss out on the popular segment “Radioactive,” which was the replay of the radio chatter from the most recent race.

Griffin pointed out that it wasn’t just NASCAR, but FOX has been cutting down on the number of their TV shows. Further elaborating that this move was part of the budget cut by the broadcaster. “So when I look at this thing, I struggle because NBC did not sign up Dale Jr to continue as a broadcaster. That’s a budget cut, I don’t care how y’all see it; it’s a budget cut. When I look at FOX, man this is a budget cut. Look at Sirius, obviously, Claire B, Chocolate Myers, a lot of shows went away.”

He further questioned how the new daily show on CW would fare up against the good old Race Hub which has been a hit among the NASCAR community. “I see the play with CW where they’re going to be CW next season and bring Kennedy, as we said or somebody said in the press release. That we’re gonna do our own version of a daily show… I hope it works out great, I’m not a guy for change, right? I’m an old-fashioned motherf**ker, and I hate change.”

This wasn’t the only sign of NASCAR’s current broadcaster trying to cut down on costs. NBC backing out of its role of broadcasting the Xfinity Series event was another huge development that took the community by surprise.

CW will broadcast the last eight Xfinity Series races

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NBC, apart from not renewing its contract with Dale Jr, followed up with the controversial move of not broadcasting the remaining Xfinity Series races for 2024. NASCAR had already inked an exclusive agreement with CW to be the new home for all 33 Xfinity races. However, with NBC backing down on its commitment, the CW will take over the broadcasting role earlier than expected.

Moreover, apart from carrying the exclusive rights to cover all the Xfinity races from 2025 onwards, CW will also broadcast the Cup Series practice and qualifying sessions. It falls under the new $7.7 billion TV deal NASCAR signed this year with its current and new broadcasting partners.

Although NASCAR fans and the community are not receptive to dramatic changes, these new trends might just allow the sport to reach new heights. And maybe, new partners and a change in broadcast partners is the way to go forward for NASCAR.