Former NASCAR Broadcaster Returning to College Football in 2026

What’s Happening?

Former NASCAR broadcaster Rick Allen is returning to The CW for more college football broadcasts in 2026.

• Allen, the voice of NASCAR on NBC from 2015 to 2024, will serve as the lead play-by-play man for the network’s coverage of the newly reshaped Pac-12. He will work alongside former Boston College and Washington State standouts Will Blackmon and Michael Bumpus as part of the network’s “Pac-12 Lead Crew.”
• Allen, a former collegiate athlete himself, got his start in NASCAR as the voice of the Truck Series on Speed before his move to NBC. His tenure came to an abrupt end in 2024 when the network kicked him for former IndyCar voice Leigh Diffey, re-signing Allen to work the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series for the remainder of the season.
• While he has done some at-track public address announcing work with NASCAR since leaving, Allen has not yet returned to the sport. This is despite calls from fans for FOX to bring him back as the voice of the Truck Series, or even as a radio voice in some capacity.
• Since leaving NASCAR, Allen has worked in and out of different sports. Last year, the 57-year-old covered college football for The CW and has continued to work with the network in the offseason as the voice of the Professional Bowlers Association’s PBA Tour.

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