NASCAR Broadcaster Details Grueling Reality Behind the Sport’s Shiny Image

Out there on the race track, it’s not an easy job for anyone. Be it NASCAR drivers, marshals, and team members, they all acknowledge how demanding and draining the situation can often get. Among them is one such role that doesn’t get nearly enough credit or attention as it should.

The role of the on-ground journalists in NASCAR is as challenging as any other. Every weekend, come rain or shine, they always have to be there covering every race. They sacrifice a lot of their personal lives so that the fans at home can fully enjoy their favorite races undisturbed and trouble-free. Their job can have worse days that include carrying heavy equipment with temperatures soaring high, and covering the different racing noises humming in both ears. Recently, NASCAR journalist Kaitlyn Vincie explained the challenges of her role as a pit reporter that often go unnoticed and unthanked.

Kaitlyn Vincie says their jobs are not what they look like

Kaitlyn Vincie and Samantha Busch discussed the downside of pit road conditions and how worse it can often get. Some would justify that the pit boxes where Samantha usually sits to watch her husband race are well shaded. However, Samantha said that though the pit box is in the shade, it’s still uncomfortably hot because the enclosed sides trap the air, making it stagnant with no breeze or ventilation to sit comfortably enough for three hours.

Kaitlyn Vincie shared her side, too. While chatting with Samantha on her Certified Oversharer podcast, she described the worst side of her job, “It’s like trapped. No movement, no circulation. It’s such a tough job. We all know, cause we’re in this environment every single week. I think back to when I was in Iowa when I was pregnant with my daughter. Was 7 months pregnant and I had to work a double Truck-Xfinity race on pit road. It was scorching hot, you can’t even wear your equipment anymore. A lot of people don’t realise this, they had to improvise and give us a bookbag to keep all of our RF packs in. Cause you can no longer wear it around your waist.”

The worst part was that Vincie had no idea about the heavy weight of her backpack containing her RF packs. According to her, running around with a heavy bag on a hectic weekend, while pregnant, was not a fun experience. On any other day, she actually enjoys running around on the paddock, chasing stories. Though on that day, her job was made a lot harder when her scanner conked out in the middle of Stage 1. This pretty much forced Vincie to run back and grab a backup scanner, because “you cannot do that job of pit reporting without a scanner,” as she said.

She also spoke about what a typical day as a pit reporter in NASCAR is like, which the viewers at home have “no idea” of. She listed the multiple channels that they have to listen to in their headsets with different updates coming in from all sides, often overlapping each other. “The amount of things you’re balancing in that headset too. You have your director, producer, the talent on one side, and you’re listening to all the teams on the other side. Everybody’s talking at once, so you’re going to have to figure out how to manage that,” she explained.

And their jobs would have been impossible had it not been for the assistant pit spotters who save their day. “They’re kind of like your assistant, because you can’t scan all those people. It’d be impossible, so they’re kind of your second set of ears and eyes to provide the information to you. Which is hugely helpful. I’ve done races without one, though, and I will say that those are really hard days.” The assistants are obviously helpful, as scanning multiple team radios and listening to everyone at once can certainly make one go crazy.

Kaitlyn Vincie’s current endeavors

The 37-year-old continues to be a prominent presence in NASCAR media, serving as an additional pit reporter for select Cup Series races on FOX during the 2025 season. Beyond that, she co-hosts the widely followed Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast, offering fans a relaxed and insightful look into the sport with Harvick and Mamba Smith. Reflecting on her path in broadcasting, Kaitlyn told Forbes:

“This was all I ever wanted to do with my life once I was old enough to figure out a career path, I was dedicated to doing this, and it’s been exactly what I had hoped for. Fox has allowed me to do a little bit of everything at this point. I’ve done pit reporting, I’ve done pre-race hosting, I’ve done hosting of the daily shows. I’ve done awards show and red carpets features. So I’ve worked across all the different series that we’ve had.”

At the moment, she is on a break from her broadcasting duties as FOX won’t handle broadcasting duties until the start of next season. Away from the track, Vincie has tried her hand at creative writing. In early 2023, she published her debut fiction novel, Save The Queen City.