We’re at the dawn of another season of NASCAR racing. The offseason is complete and we’re within 36 hours of qualifying for the Daytona 500. It’s as good of a time as any to talk about the upcoming year and what you’re about to see from NASCAR on FOX.
News-wise, likely the biggest story of the year is something that you’re not really going to see all that much. In Los Angeles, Kevin Harvick announced that he will be joining the broadcast booth for NASCAR Cup Series races full-time in 2024.
While Harvick will be racing his final full-time season in Cup this season, his aura will hang around broadcasts for most of the year. Heck, Harvick actually showed up in the booth Saturday night at Raymond James Stadium during the Monster Energy AMA Supercross broadcast on Peacock. That was random.
He is actually scheduled to get some reps in the booth later this year. He will have a total of seven races in the booth. In FOX Sports’ official press release that was released on Feb. 5, Harvick’s first outing in the booth is scheduled for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 4.
With Harvick’s full-time arrival already announced, 2023 comes off as a bit of a lame-duck year despite the fact that no one in the booth is actually getting replaced. I don’t necessarily expect it to affect ratings in any way, but it wouldn’t shock me if a number of viewers just want to get through the year in order to look toward 2024.
For this season, you will continue to see a revolving door of guest analysts on Cup broadcasts. Tony Stewart, who was in the booth at the Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, is scheduled to remain there at Daytona International Speedway. Beyond that is currently unannounced.
While it’s great that Stewart is back for another go-around, it doesn’t solve the problem that I’ve talked about for a year straight. There is next to no continuity in FOX‘s Cup Series broadcast presentation. It’s like watching the fourth season of the original American Gladiators after they fired most of the regular contestants. You had an entire season where replacement-level gladiators were getting lit up on a regular basis. We’re into the second year of replacement analysts here. It’s not great.
Outside of the Harvick news, the biggest story is who is not back. Back on New Year’s Eve, Vince Welch announced that he is no longer with FOX Sports. Naturally, that results in…
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