Following the departure of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. this year, NBC’s NASCAR broadcast booth will reportedly have another change in 2024. Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal reports that lead IndyCar announcer, Leigh Diffey, will be the Lap-by-Lap announcer for Cup Series races sometime after the Olympics. This comes at an interesting time in terms of both NASCAR’s and NBC’s media rights contracts.
The report was unclear about which NASCAR races Diffey would broadcast in 2024, but, we can guess based on the 2024 IndyCar and Olympics schedule.
The first NASCAR race after the Olympic break is August 11th, but, that is the final day of the Olympics. IndyCar then has 4 race weekends in 5 weeks following the Olympics. Diffey could do both NASCAR and IndyCar on the same weekend the weekends of August 17th-18th and August 24th-25th, but, that would be a major logistical inconvenience for Diffey.
NBC could take Diffey off of IndyCar coverage towards the end of the season. They did it back in the mid-2010s when Diffey was splitting time between IndyCar and Formula One, but, that’s no guarantee.
While his schedule is busy near the summer’s end, Diffey’s IndyCar schedule is done by mid-September. This means that he is definitely free to do at least 9 Cup Series races towards the end of the season. These are those events.
Leigh Diffey and NBC are both in an interesting position. NBC’s IndyCar contract is running out at the end of 2024, and it’s uncertain whether or not both parties will renew the relationship. This makes Diffey a potential candidate to move over to NASCAR coverage in 2024 with either NBC or a new party, as long as he doesn’t follow wherever the IndyCar contract goes.
Dale Jr leaving for NBC kicked off the start of NASCAR’s broadcasting Silly Season. If he is gone, what is the future for broadcasters like Rick Allen, Steve Letarte, and Jeff Burton? Could they join Earnhardt Jr. at Amazon Prime and Warner Bros/Discovery?
In that case, Diffey would be an obvious candidate to be the lead NASCAR broadcaster at NBC. He has years of experience broadcasting motorsports at a high level and has been well-received in his NASCAR broadcasts.
Is this the start of Diffey transitioning to NASCAR? Time will tell, but, seeing him do NASCAR this year is something that will be fun to watch.
Joey Logano could break Richard Petty’s 47-year-old record for the most consecutive drafting-track races led this weekend at EchoPark Speedway. After leading laps in the Daytona 500, Logano has now led in 19 straight drafting-track races, dating back to 2023, tying a mark The King set from 1974 to 1979.
Logano now has a clear opportunity to move past Petty and claim sole possession of one of NASCAR’s longest-standing superspeedway records, and considering his and Team Penske’s history of dominance in this style of tracks, it seems that he is poised to break it.
Chris Gabehart has responded to Joe Gibbs Racing’s lawsuit, strongly denying the allegations and calling the claims “false,” “frivolous,” and “retaliatory” in a public statement released this Friday.
After the lawsuit became public, on Thursday, Gabehart spoke out for the first time, stating that he did not share any confidential JGR information with Spire Motorsports or any third parties and that he intends to prove that in court. He also said a third-party forensic review of his personal devices found no evidence supporting the accusations, adding that JGR declined an offer to examine Spire’s systems before filing suit.
“Yesterday afternoon, Joe Gibbs Racing filed a lawsuit claiming — falsely — that I shared JGR confidential information with Spire Motorsports and/or other unnamed third parties… I feel compelled to speak out today and forcefully and emphatically deny these frivolous and retaliatory claims.”
Gabehart said he will address the matter further in a formal legal response in the coming days.
You can learn more about the lawsuit, why it started and all the context surrounding it in the article linked below
Weather could play a major role in the NASCAR weekend at EchoPark Speedway, with current forecasts calling for a 40% chance of rain Saturday afternoon and increasing to 55% in the evening. While conditions are expected to improve, contingency plans are already in place in case races cannot be completed as scheduled
NASCAR has not announced any official schedule changes yet, as decisions will be based on how conditions develop in real time. With rain chances increasing through Saturday afternoon and evening, teams are preparing for multiple outcomes, and Sunday is expected to serve as the primary backup window if events can’t be completed as planned.
Conditions are constantly being monitored, but fans should be prepared for possible schedule adjustments throughout the weekend. We’ll keep you updated throughout the race weekend here on The Daily Downforce
