NBC, Please Do This For Your Half Of The NASCAR Season

This weekend, NBC takes over as the broadcaster for both the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity series. During the final five months of the 2022 season, there are plenty of things it should consider doing (and not doing) to give fans enjoyable broadcasts again.

FOX just finished up what was probably the worst of its 22 seasons broadcasting NASCAR. It seemed like every week, fans were complaining on social media about something FOX did or missed. So my first line of advice for NBC would be to think “What would FOX do?” in nearly every situation and to do the exact opposite.

OK, that was a little tough love for FOX, but that’s how bad it felt at times. Corny comedy bits during the pre-race show that are less funny than a Saturday Night Live monologue? Please leave those out entirely, NBC. Or, if you must do a comedy bit, hire an actual comedy writer with knowledge of NASCAR (I used to do standup comedy and improv, if you need a guest writer).

What’s unfortunate is the NASCAR pre-race shows on FOX Sports 1 actually seemed to provide solid interviews and analysis. But as soon as the broadcast switched over to big FOX, it turned into a cheesy variety show.

And that’s not how a NASCAR race should be covered. The pre-race show should instead be about hyping up the event and making the race that’s about to happen seem like the most important thing happening on the planet in that moment. It should showcase the drivers as cool gladiators, athletes at the top of their game — not as the punchline of jokes.

FOX sort of righted the ship for their pre-race shows about midway into their run this year when they started having a stage out at the track’s midway with Chris Myers hosting. That gave vibes of the old Trackside Live! days and made those races feel more like huge events.

Can NBC do the same, building a brand around Dale Earnhardt Jr.? Even if they did something similar to the old Countdown to Green they used to have with Bill Weber (think NBC about 15-20 years ago), that would be awesome.

NBC hasn’t had a largely misguided pre-race show in the past; it’s actually been a major asset to their show. I just don’t want any of the powers that be over there to get the idea they need to follow FOX’s lead on this. The biggest thing is to actually take the sport seriously and the rest will simply fall into place.

And while a pre-race show is important, a greater emphasis should be placed on the post-race show, too. Here’s an area where NBC is just as…