NASCAR crown jewel race gets a major network change

The NASCAR Cup Series is in the 10th and final season of its current media rights deal with Fox and NBC.

Fox covers the season's first 16 points races, plus the two exhibition races (the preseason Busch Light Clash at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway), and NBC covers the final 20, including the entire four-round, 10-race postseason.

Fox's coverage is split between Fox and Fox Sports 1 while NBC's coverage is split between NBC and USA Network, the latter having replaced NBC Sports Network after it shut down at the end of 2021.

But starting next year, a new seven-year deal is set to go into effect, and it includes not only Fox and NBC but Amazon Prime Video and TNT Sports as well.

Fox is set to drop down to 12 points races while still covering the two exhibition races before Amazon Prime Video and TNT Sports cover five races each. NBC is set to cover the season's final 14 races.

NASCAR crown jewel race leaves Fox

Fox's portion of the broadcast schedule wrapped up this past Sunday afternoon at Sonoma Raceway, and one of Fox's final races of the season, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, took place two weeks prior.

It was recently confirmed that the first Cup Series race on Amazon Prime Video is set to be the 2025 Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, May 25, as Fox has officially lost the broadcast rights to the crown jewel event after the most recent running last month.

Amazon Prime Video (and TNT Sports) both recently announced the addition of Dale Earnhardt Jr. to their respective broadcast booths starting in 2025. Earnhardt was with NBC from 2018 to 2023.

Given the fact that the season-opening Daytona 500 is scheduled to take place on Sunday, February 16 and the fact that the Coca-Cola 600 is scheduled to be next season's 13th points race, this would imply that there will be a week off at some point between the two crown jewel events. According to Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass, that week will be Easter week.

Easter is scheduled for Sunday, April 20 next year. Up until 2022, the Cup Series hadn't scheduled an Easter race since 1970, but races have been contested on the holiday in each of the last three seasons. It does not appear that that will be the case in 2025.

NBC's portion of this year's broadcast schedule is set to begin this Sunday, June 16 at Iowa Speedway, though the Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol is set to be broadcast not by NBC itself but by the NBCUniversal-owned USA Network. USA Network and NBC are each responsible for 10 races throughout the rest of the 2024 season. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the action!