Beyond the Flag
Fansided

NBC Proves its Allegiance to NASCAR Fans

By Alex Herbst

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - JULY 23: Fans watch the action during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motorspeedway on July 23, 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - JULY 23: Fans watch the action during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motorspeedway on July 23, 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images) /
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While other networks have faltered in their coverage of NASCAR in challenging situations like rain delays, NBC doubled down and proved themselves.

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Rain delays can prove to be the most challenging aspects of racing for television networks to handle. Not knowing exactly how long a delay may last, whether hours or days, some may choose to move to alternate programming, while others cover the time with additional analysis. But beyond rain delays, there are a plethora of challenges NBC faced in their NASCAR coverage on Sunday, but they rose to the occasion.

The many issues that the brass over at the peacock network had to balance began early, when coverage of golf’s Open Championship ran past its time slot. Instead of staying in lengthy post-match coverage on NBC, cutting into NASCAR’s time, they moved much of it over to Golf Channel. This came as a departure from other networks in the past, such as when ESPN prioritized the conclusion of a college football game over the beginning of the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte.

More challenges abounded just 12 laps into the race on Sunday, as rain soaked the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. With uncertainty over how long the delay would go on, NBC could have opted to shift the race over to NBCSN or even CNBC, but instead stuck with the race with the hopes that it would be completed before primetime.

The race would eventually return to green flag racing, but with a lot more on-track action to come. The Brickyard 400 would eventually be won by Kasey Kahne, despite many red flags and a total of over six hours that would be required to finish the 167-lap race. This would significantly cut into NBC’s primetime coverage, with the race ending close to three hours after the scheduled window on the network ended.

Certainly NBC executives could have chosen to end race coverage at 6:00 PM in order for local stations to air their evening newscasts and to keep their new Sunday night newsmagazine show on schedule. Instead, however, they chose to stick with the race, not abandoning their growing stock car racing fan base. While it may have negatively impacted the shows that would air later, as the primetime schedule was slid instead of cut down, NASCAR on NBC hopes that it will bolster their ratings.

Next: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Joining NBC Sports in 2018

Many NASCAR fans continue to debate on social media and in racing circles over whether FOX or NBC provides the best coverage of the stock car racing championship. On Sunday, NBC may have secured their spot atop that argument after their commitment to the fans.

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