This season, several incidents are causing an upheaval in NASCAR. The most recent such occurrence was Stewart-Haas Racing’s untimely end. A 15-year-old stellar racing team with 69 Cup victories decided to shutter. Similar to this tragic news, another 15-year-old NASCAR venture will soon meet its end.
In the age of globalization, sports news can reach fans in milliseconds at the tip of their fingers. This hyper-advanced culture has displaced good old TV shows and newspapers. That is probably why NASCAR is also bidding adieu to its foremost TV program, as Kenny Wallace opines.
Kenny Wallace encourages outgoing NASCAR TV officials
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In May of this year, FOX decided to cancel NASCAR Race Hub, the popular one-hour daily program that airs on Fox Sports 1. Recently eclipsing over 2,500 episodes, the program was first hosted on the Speed channel in 2009 by Adam Alexander and Krista Voda. Its ‘Radioactive’ segment, a replay of a race weekend but with audio from the team’s in-car radios, was the most popular. However, this legacy will draw to a close after June 11th, drawing flak from a lot of fans.
This news is bound to have a domino effect on a lot of the industry’s amazing individuals. But NASCAR Xfinity icon Kenny Wallace is here to nurse the employees’ wounds. He drew a comparison with the struggles in his own life. “For all of you that are being let go and not fired, you will survive, you’ll do better…I know it stings right now like a son of a b*tch…I’m 60 years old right now, but I’ve been disappointed a lot in my life. But I’m a tough son of a b*tch baby… I win at every motherf***ing thing there is, I win. That’s the way you gotta do life. So you will win, you’ll overcome and prevail.”
“Coffee with Kenny”
This weekend is the end for a lot of my friends at @NASCARONFOX ❤️ pic.twitter.com/SvqKr6K5ag
— Kenny Wallace (@Kenny_Wallace) June 6, 2024
This can be seen as FOX’s crumbling presence, as NASCAR signed a $7.7 billion media rights deal with other media companies. Also, the heartbreaking news came just hours after Dale Earnhardt Jr confirmed his move into Amazon and TNT for 2025. But Race Hub’s declining popularity is another reason. It generally brings well under 200,000 viewers per show, whereas 2 million viewers watch the Cup Series races on cable.
Plus Race Hub has a dwindling presence on social media. This is detrimental to the program due to the modern landscape, where youth thrive online. Kenny Wallace emphasized this viewpoint: “The whole world’s changing, it’s a crazy place out there. These young kids, they don’t like TV anymore, they want apps…They don’t want direct TV, they don’t want dish. They just wanna pay their 9 dollars for that app, for that month. So blame it on them.”
With digitalization creeping into our lives, older traditions like watching TV shows are fading away. But before NASCAR’s Race Hub dissolves, it has put on a great show for the viewers.
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Cup team and drivers honored by fading TV show
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Before Race Hub will air its final episode on June 11th, the TV program hosted three documentaries. “Diecast Mania” featured the story of the collectible world that blossomed in NASCAR, led by Dale Earnhardt Sr and Rusty Wallace.
Then “Steve Park: Destined” told the story of a Dale Earnhardt Inc. driver who significantly played with danger on racetracks. But most importantly, Race Hub commemorated Hendrick Motorsports’ 40th anniversary via “One Team, One Dream: 40 Years of Hendrick Motorsports.”
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NASCAR’s press release described the Hendrick documentary. “The wins and championships are well known, but this film digs deeper to gain an understanding of how Rick Hendrick’s leadership and the team members’ dedication built an unrivaled culture of excellence and perseverance. Structured around the team’s 40th anniversary at the April 2024 race at Martinsville Speedway, the film focuses on Hendrick’s leadership philosophy, empowering talented people to give their best effort.”
Hence, before the light goes out forever, NASCAR’s Race Hub is sparkling in its final show.