During Thursday night’s second 150-mile duel qualifying race for the Dayton 500, FOX Sports caused a major stir in the NASCAR community for taking a late commercial break.
This week’s Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway has been a major week of reset for FOX Sports NASCAR broadcasts.
While the network is continuing to stick out some questionable decisions with the broadcasters calling the races, specifically regarding on-air chemistry, FOX finally released a new and improved graphics package.
The new graphics package, as revealed at the 2026 Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, eliminated the use of the comic book-like cartoons used to represent drivers. However, this was not the rumored overhaul fans had expected.
That change came during Wednesday’s first practice sessions for the 2026 Daytona 500, which showed off FOX’s new scoring pylon, new lower third graphics, and changed the background animation from the previous version some fans jokingly called the stars and stripes.
The reviews for the refreshed looked centered on positivity of the change, though some were still very critical of the new look.
Nonetheless, fans were quick to find issues with FOX’s broadcast during that evening’s qualifying session, including a graphic showing the top ten drivers, in which all but one driver, Chris Buescher, had the wrong manufacturer label.
After the opening day of action at Daytona, fans were greeted with more renewed interest from the network in the 500, with its daily talk show, First Things First, airing live from the track.
Beyond what many called a solid setup, with the grandstands, scoring tower, and finish line in the background, the show’s hosts also did their best to tell the important storylines of the day, and interview names like Kyle Busch, Jamie Little, and Clint Bowyer.
Of course, the real test was Thursday night’s two 150-mile duel qualifying races, which would give race fans a chance to see what FOX was bringing to an actual race.
While many said the race broadcast was passable, the talk of the town following the two races, specifically the second duel race, was the decision to go to a full-screen commercial break during green flag racing with ten to go.
While nothing happened during that break, FOX is far from a first-time offender of doing this during big moments late in races, such as last season, when they cut to a commercial with 15 to go during last year’s spring race at Talladega.
For the most part, this moment got somewhat buried by the news of Anthony Alfredo’s disallowed finishing position, kicking him and the No. 62 team from the Daytona 500.
But for those fans who noticed and haven’t forgotten, they will likely be watching Sunday’s race with a high level of scrutiny, waiting to see if the network makes this same call on the sport’s grandest stage.
What do you think about this? Let us know your opinion on Discord or X. Don’t forget that you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
