NASCAR: NBC set for broadcast booth change at Daytona?

The confirmation that Dale Earnhardt Jr. would not be back for what would have been a seventh season in the NBC Sports broadcast booth during NBC's portion of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series broadcast schedule was only the beginning when it came to changes to NBC's coverage this year.

That left lead announcer Rick Allen and color commentators Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte in the booth for 2024, which is the final year of NASCAR's current 10-year media rights deal. The trio have been together since that deal started in 2015, and they were joined by Earnhardt from 2018 to 2023.

It is worth pointing out that the broadcast booth is made up of the same announcers whether the races are shown on main NBC or the NBCUniversal-owned USA Network.

USA Network replaced NBC Sports Network as the alternate channel during NBC's portion of the schedule after NBC Sports Network shut down at the end of 2021.

This year's NBC portion of the schedule, which began back in mid-June at Iowa Speedway, consists of 10 races on NBC and 10 on USA Network.

It was later revealed that, after the recent three-week break in the action due to NBC's coverage of the Summer Olympics in Paris, France, there would be another major change to the booth.

Lead IndyCar and IMSA announcer Leigh Diffey would be taking over from Allen and becoming the lead announcer for Cup Series races. This change was first discussed before it was announced that IndyCar would be shifting from NBC to Fox next year.

NBC booth set to change for Daytona NASCAR Cup Series race

Given the fact that Diffey was responsible for Olympics coverage, he was never going to make the move right when NASCAR returned from the break at Richmond Raceway two weekends ago. It was believed he would either replace Allen at Michigan International Speedway last weekend or Daytona International Speedway this weekend.

Allen remained last weekend, and now Diffey is set to take over, starting with this Saturday night's Coke Zero Sugar 400 at the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval. That race is set to be shown live on NBC.

Beyond this weekend, there is just one more race on the 26-race regular season schedule, that being next Sunday's Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. That race is set to be shown live on USA Network.

The four-round, 10-race playoffs are scheduled to begin with four straight races on USA Network, and they are scheduled to wrap up with six in a row on NBC.

Allen is set to continue to serve as the lead announcer for Xfinity Series races, even with the series set to get a head start on its 2025 full-time move to the CW Network. That shift is set to take place ahead of the regular season finale at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday, September 20.

The entire three-round, seven-race Xfinity Series playoffs are set to be shown live on the CW Network, while the races are still set to be produced by NBC Sports with its own production and on-air teams.

Tune in to NBC this Saturday, August 24 at 7:00 p.m. ET for the live broadcast of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 from Daytona International Speedway. RFK Racing's Chris Buescher is the reigning race winner. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the action!