What happened to NASCAR Race Hub? Reported reason for the show ending after 2500 episodes comes to light

Renowned journalist Kelly Crandall confirmed on May 8 that 'NASCAR Race Hub', the daily NASCAR news show that used to run on FOX Sports 1 and Speed channel, would end. After running for almost 15 years and 2500 episodes, NASCAR Race Hub drew the curtain with a 90-minute episode on Tuesday, June 11. Reportedly, NASCAR's new media deal was the reason.

"NEWS: NASCAR Race Hub will air its last show Tuesday, June 11. Fox Sports employees were informed today that the show is ending," Crandall posted.

During the last offseason, NASCAR signed its new 7-year media deal, starting from 2025, with the big four distribution partners; FOX Sports, NBC Sports, Amazon Prime, and TNT Sports.

According to its terms, FOX is supposed to cover 14 annual races, including the Daytona 500 and the entire NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season. However, hosting NASCAR Race Hub was not a mandate for the FOX. NASCAR reporter Alan Bailey said in a 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."

Furthermore, it also reportedly came down to how NASCAR Race Hub's viewership differs from that of NASCAR's Cup Series events. According to a report from "USTVDB.com" via "The Daily Downforce", the show has garnered about 200,000 views per episode, while a Cup Series race has attracted approximately 2 million viewers on cable and somewhere between 3.5 to 4.5 million viewers on the network TV, since March 29, 2022.

FOX taking the show forward any further, as well as completing its yearly quota of broadcasting races, would likely result in a huge financial setback.

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NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin wasn't happy with the announcement

Denny Hamlin gave his take on the announcement in an earlier episode of Actions Detrimental. According to the three-time Daytona 500 winner, NASCAR Race Hub was an asset for NASCAR. Reflecting on the same, the Joe Gibbs Racing icon said, as reported by awfulannouncing.com,

"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."

SPEED aired the first episode of NASCAR Race Hub in 2009. FS1 took over the show in 2013, and in January 2024, they celebrated their 2500th episode. NASCAR Race Hub used to provide exclusive racing insights from drivers, crew chiefs, journalists, and other stalwarts in the arena of NASCAR.

Needless to say, the news of the show's ending disappointed the entire community. However, being a team owner himself, Denny Hamlin understands how an entertainment business like NASCAR works.

"What I understood, too, was that was a real money loss for FOX. They spent quite a bit of money per year putting that on. It was a net negative. So yeah, everyone’s got a business to rum," he added.

While the fans recall the days when they could tune in to FS1 every single day, and watch their favorite NASCAR show, the NASCAR Cup Series drivers, including Hamlin, prepare for the upcoming road race at the Chicago Road Course on July 7. NBC Sports and Peacock will cover the 75-lap event. Live radio updates can be heard on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.