“A treasure to modern motorsports”: NASCAR fans react to Leigh Diffey’s recent revelation about his preparation ahead of Coke Zero Sugar 400

Some NASCAR fans have opined on Leigh Diffey's pre-Daytona race revelation. The IndyCar's lead play-by-play announcer marked his shift to NBC's Cup Series booth with his last Indy stint at Iowa Speedway on July 14.

Diffey replaced Rick Allen and commentated on the 164-lap race alongside Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte. Allen has been made the Xfinity Series announcer, while Kevin Lee filled in for the departing 53-year-old at Indy.

Diffey made his Cup Series broadcasting debut at the 2015 Homestead-Miami Speedway race. He filled in for Rick Allen during the 2017 Watkins Glen International and Michigan International Speedway races while the latter was working on IAAF World Championships' coverage.

Motorsports reporter Adam Stern tweeted about the Australian-American commentator's pre-race disclosure. The former shared that the famed announcer revealed "chronologically" watching all races on NASCAR's 2024 calendar to prepare for his Daytona stint.

"Leigh Diffey said last week that he was preparing for his move to NBC's NASCAR booth by watching tape of races chronologically from the start of this season, and he pointed out that he has worked with Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte before in 2017 as well as Rolex 24 coverage."

The NASCAR fanbase took note of Stern's tweet and opined on the same.

"Leigh is a treasure to modern motorsports, great to have him in NASCAR," a fan commented.

"@leighdiffey is an absolute gem behind the mic," one fan wrote.

"He was awesome," a fan opined.

A couple of fans praised Diffey's Daytona calls and added.

"Leigh was fantastic!! Best play by play I’ve heard in tv in 23 yrs," the fan commented.

"Dude his call at Daytona was so fire," another fan wrote.

"So excited and grateful": Leigh Diffey on fulfilling a motorsports commentator's "dream"

Leigh Diffey has carved his name among the renowned auto racing and track and field announcers. His vast commentating resume boasts events such as the Superbike World Championship, the American LeMans Series, the 24 Hours of LeMans, the 24 Hours of Daytona, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and the recent Paris Olympics, to name a few.

Daytona has held motorsports events for over 50 years and is among the most famed track, and home to America's prestigious and highest-prize-paying race, the Daytona 500. Before the charter system was announced, Joey Logano took home $1,586,503 from his 2015 triumph. However, after the system, the purse grew, and this year's amount totaled $28,035,991, the largest in NASCAR's history. William Byron won the season-opener race and, with that, the hefty prize money.

According to Leigh Diffey, calling out NASCAR races on the 2.5-mile superspeedway is a motorsports commentator's "dream." Thus, the announcer expressed his excitement while being on the verge of materializing it.

"I have had the fortune of calling the Rolex 24 at @DAYTONA , Supercross at Daytona, the Daytona 200 and American Flat Track at the famed racing venue. Tomorrow I head to Florida to fulfill a Motorsport commentators dream of calling @NASCAR at Daytona … so excited and grateful," Diffey wrote via X.

Leigh Diffey will be the lead commentator for all Cup Series races including the Championship 4 battle at the Phoenix Raceway.