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NASCAR journalist Shannon Spake has reportedly parted ways with FOX Sports after working with them for around eight years. This comes after the closure of Race Hub.
It had been announced earlier that Race Hub would air its last episode on Tuesday, June 11. With 13 seasons and 2500 episodes, the show was largely loved by the fans of the sport. Analysts discussed the races and covered news surrounding the sport. However, FOX hinted back in May that the show might be canceled, and the last episode was aired earlier this week.
Shannon Spake, the show's host, has worked with FOX since 2016. Her main focus was NASCAR, but she was also sidelined in the NFL. However, reports from renowned journalist Rudy Martzke reveal that she will no longer be a part of FOX after the cancellation of the show.
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Race Hub's cancellation came as a surprise for many including #11 Toyota driver Denny Hamlin who expressed his disappointment on the Actions Detrimental podcast.
"It sure was convenient to be on cable. I don’t care; it’s on a sports network. For me personally, I would always go into a restaurant or something, and it would replay. They have it on FS1 constantly. So it just would replay throughout the week, even when it wasn’t in its designated time slot. I understand that there’s some sports that don’t have a daily show, but I think it was certainly an asset for our sport to have, for sure," Hamlin said.
What happened to NASCAR Race Hub? Reported reason for closure
Race Hub, though popular amongst fans, garnered minimal viewership compared to the Cup Series races. According to a report from USTVDB.com, Race Hub generated around 200,000 views per episode. While that is a good number, the subsequent NASCAR races generated over 2 million viewers over different platforms.
Other than the lack of viewership, another reported reason is the new media deal that the sport signed earlier. During the offseason, NASCAR signed a new media deal with FOX Sports, NBC Sports, TNT Sports, and Amazon Prime.
According to this deal, FOX and NBC will cover 14 races each while 10 races will be split between Prime Video and TNT. However, hosting Race Hub was not a mandatory deal. Reporter Alain Bailey mentioned this in a social media post:
"NEWS: FOX has canceled #NASCAR Race Hub after the end of it's current TV contract. Last show on Tuesday, June 11. Current TV contract had Race Hub mandate, New TV contract for 2025 does not. Employees were informed today."
