NBC Sports is planning a switch to its NASCAR booth for part of the 2024 season, according to people familiar with the matter. Fox Sports and NBC Sports currently split the NASCAR season roughly 50/50, with Fox taking on the first part of the schedule and NBC airing the back half. NBC’s first race this year isn’t until mid June. Since NBC picked NASCAR media rights back up in 2015, Rick Allen has been the lead announcer for NBC’s portion for both the premier Cup Series and the secondary Xfinity Series.
But this year, Allen will only call Cup Series races through the Olympic Games. At some point in the weeks after, the plan is for Leigh Diffey to take over as lead announcer for Cup races and continue through the duration of the 2024 season. NBC’s plan for 2025 and beyond is unclear. Allen will continue calling all Xfinity Series races as the lead play-by-play announcer through the 2024 campaign for NBC. The exact race that Diffey will start at with NASCAR after the Games is not yet clear; NASCAR races at Michigan on Aug. 18th and Daytona on Aug. 24th. NBC did not respond to a request for comment.
