The 2025 NASCAR season is going to see a massive shift in the way fans consume the races. On the Cup Series side, we have a new streaming partner Amazon Prime Video planning its debut run. With old guards, NBC and FOX are still getting a big chunk of the schedule. Whereas on the Xfinity Series, CW has taken up the role of broadcasting the racing action exclusively until 2031.

They were forced into an early entry this year to cover the playoff races after NBC backed out of the deal that lasted until the end of 2024. However, the $13 billion media giant is looking to make some big changes in how the races will be covered in their first full-year stint. According to the report by Adam Stern from SBJ, the network is planning to call out a few races from a remote setup.

“.@TheCW is considering having its NASCAR booth call some races next year remotely from @NASCAR’s new production facility in North Carolina, per people familiar.” Stern shared this on X. In a detailed report, he mentioned that CW will work with NASCAR to help them call out races from their $53 million, 58,000-square-foot production facility. Although it’s just speculation and nothing’s been confirmed, this news has received a massive pushback from the racing community.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. quickly shared his take on this potential move by CW: “I hope they do not.” He wrote this on X. Jr. will make his comeback in the booth next year with Amazon Prime Videos in calling the Cup races. But seeing the Xfinity Series getting inferior treatment in terms of coverage has got fans irate. They quickly rallied behind Dale Jr.’s opinion and started tagging CW in trying to prevent them from making this move.

Remote race coverage comes nowhere near the actual racing experience

The commentators calling the races from the physical booth get the real feel of racing as it happens. Be it a wreck, a pit road incident, or even catching the trend of the race as it unfolds. While modern-day technology and data analytics help to bridge that gap to do the same from a studio setup, it still doesn’t make up for the authentic coverage, which is only possible if the casters are at the racing venue. This was the point this fan was trying to make by reacting to this news. “@TheCW_Sports please dont. The broadcast quality takes a huge hit when those calling the race aren’t physically at the track.”

NASCAR broadcasters are facing issues in trying to keep their audience entertained and at the same time fulfill the commitment of their sponsors. The Cup coverage this year was being blasted by the fans for the untimely commercial breaks. And with the remote set-up, this fan feels this trend will become prevalent. “This is a terrible idea.”

Do the current TV and media partners of NASCAR really care about the sport? Imagine you are invested in the race with the field going two and three wide, and out of a sudden the commercial kicks in. What’s even worse is that you missed out on the actual crash or the move for a lead, and the only avenue to get these updates are social media platforms. FOX has been a constant headache for the fans this year, and it looks like CW is heading in a rather similar direction. Calling out these media companies and NASCAR, a frustrated fan wrote, “Just another awful company NASCAR has signed with who doesn’t give a crap about the quality of broadcasts. This organization does nothing right.”

Remote setup and race coverage isn’t something new; this was the trend back in the COVID-19 days. However, it was a necessity back then to call out the race, but going back to that trend certainly didn’t make sense to this race fan. He even recalled how TV networks genuinely cared for their audience with their coverage in the early 2000s. “Absolutely will. Covid opened the door, and there’s no reason for them to go back. Sucks. We need a dedicated network that cares about the sport so bad. Bring bad speed please.”

The FOX usually resorts to remote setup to call out the Truck Series races after they are done with their half of Cup Series races. So the fans know how different and inorganic this style of coverage feels. Some even argued that the quality of the broadcast takes a hit in the closed environment where casters have nothing but a screen as their medium of information. “definitely have not been a fan of Fox doing this the last few years. It makes the quality of the broadcast worse.”

It will be interesting to see if CW sticks to their original plans or decides to stick to a traditional style of race coverage for Xfinity Series races.