NASCAR returns after a week off to relax before heading into the summer slate of races. All three series will be in action in Music City for races at Nashville Superspeedway.
Between the Grand Ole Opry, the Boulevard and much more, Nashville has become a hot spot for entertainment, including the year-end NASCAR awards.
Here is who will be appearing at the track this weekend.
TV Broadcast: If you look for the race on FOX or FOX Sports 1, you won’t find it this weekend. NBC Sports now takes over for the rest of the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity series season. Commentators Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. return for the network’s ninth consecutive season since its return in 2015.
Honorary Pace Car Driver: Grammy-nominated comedian Nate Bargatze will pace the field prior to the Ally 400 on June 25. Bargatze had his own Netflix series The Standups in 2017 and also hosts his own podcast “Nateland.”
Grand Marshal: Country band Old Dominion will give Cup drivers the command to start their engines. Old Dominion recently received its sixth consecutive Academy of Country Music Award for Group of the Year, which was also its eighth-straight nomination. Additionally, they have recorded seven No. 1s on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart.
Pre-Race Concert: Award-winning country singer and songwriter Parker McCollum headlines the pre-race concert prior to the Ally 400. McCollum was named the 2022 ACM New Male Artist of the Year and has No. 1 platinum-selling hits.
Nashville Honoring Carl Edwards: Recently named to NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers list, Carl Edwards will return to the scene at Nashville this weekend. Edwards will be recognized on the fan zone stage and participate in pre-race festivities. He earned five Xfinity wins at the 1.3-mile track, as well as one NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory.
Luken Glover joined the Frontstretch team in 2020 as a news writer before elevating to a columnist, where he served as the longtime writer for The Underdog House. Currently, he is an editor for the site and conducts feature interviews. Glover has covered several forms of racing for the site including NASCAR, CARS Tour, and SRX events.
A 2023 graduate of the University of the Cumberlands, Glover is a promotional writer, elementary athletic director, and basketball coach. He is passionate about serving in his church, playing/coaching a wide variety of sports, and researching motorsports history.
so the races will be broadcast on nbc? usa? peacock?
Nashville race is NBC. But see my post about TV networks…
TV scheduling is a mess!!
Toss whatever schedules you had previously — NBC apparently has better things to broadcast and has been re-arranging the TV network agenda. NBC is dumping several races and will air them on USA.
The latest word is it will be close to a 50-50 split between NBC & USA.
Here’s the latest TV schedule mess:
Sat., June 24 NASCAR Xfinity Series Qualifying USA Network 12 noon
NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying USA Network 1 p.m.
Countdown to Green – NASCAR Xfinity Series USA Network 3 p.m.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Tenn. Lottery 250 USA Network 3:30 p.m.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Post-Race USA Network 6 p.m.
Sun., June 25 NASCAR Cup Series Ally 400 NBC 7 p.m.
NASCAR Cup Series Post-Race Peacock 11 p.m.
NOTE NBC is not going to follow-up with “post race” coverage — but sending it to their basement channel (Peacock).