Leigh Diffey’s journey began not in a broadcast booth, but as a physical education teacher in Queensland, Australia. When a local motorcycle club asked a 19-year-old Diffey to call flat-track races, he accepted, earning about $60 and calling just under 100 flat-track races in his first season.

By the time NBC handed him the reins as its lead NASCAR announcer in 2024, Diffey had already logged calls across the Olympics, Formula 1, IndyCar, and AMA Supercross, and sometimes more in a single day than most broadcasters do in a career. With such a diverse resume, Diffey witnessed mind-blowing action everywhere he went, but one such instance lingered in his mind until last year, which caused him to slip up on air.

How one NASCAR finish reminded Leigh Diffey why he loves the sport

In a candid conversation on the Backstretch Banter podcast, Leigh Diffey shared insights into his exhilarating final-lap call during the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen. He recalled, “I remember getting so caught up in it that I owed Mike Bagley an apology because we were meant to be doing it radio style and I just…I got so engrossed in the moment and it was it was incredible.” 

This slip-up by Diffey, the play-by-play announcer for NBC Sports, happened in the final lap confrontation between Chris Buescher and road-course ace Shane van Gisbergen. The bumper-to-bumper last-lap duel at the road courses ended with Buescher prevailing in overtime, as the latter successfully executed a bump-and-run maneuver on SVG in the carousel turn after SVG had slipped in the Bus Stop chicane.

The electrifying final lap was more than just a typical scrap for the lead; it was a deeply personal moment for Diffey that triggered a vivid flashback to one of Watkins Glen‘s most iconic and controversial finishes. He revealed, “I can vividly remember sitting on the couch with my wife watching that race when Marcos Ambrose and Brad were getting into it at the Glen and that just all came back to me in that moment as they were going up through the Ss and it’s like oh my god this this is all coming together.” 

Diffey was referencing the wild 2012 finish, where Marcos Ambrose and Brad Keselowski engaged in a frantic, oil-slicked, door-banging battle that saw them pass a spinning Kyle Busch and trade the lead multiple times in the final corners. Ambrose finally took the win, but the emotional parallels instantly transported the announcer back to a seminal moment of NASCAR road course history. The sense of historical echo was deepened by the familial connection between the two driver-owner pairings in the final battle.

Diffey articulated this generational link, noting, “Marcos Ambrose was a mentor, still is a mentor to Shane Van Gisbergen, and here’s Chris Buescher driving for Brad Keselowski, and the worlds have come back together and it’s a last-lap scrap and for a play-by-play announcer they’re the kind of moments that we live for.” Ambrose, a two-time Watkins Glen winner himself, was instrumental in advising his fellow Supercars champion as SVG made his jump to NASCAR.

Simultaneously, Buscher drives for RFK Racing, co-owned by none other than Brad Keselowski, creating a profound symmetrical narrative. The high drama of the moment was ultimately driven by the professional instinct that defines a broadcaster’s career. As Diffey summarized the essence of the call, “It was exhilarating for me and I do that in the moment as much as a broadcaster but maybe even more as a fan.” 

The unplanned nature of an overtime finish, where Buescher, who had lost the lead to SVG on the final restart, chased him down and passed him for the win, represented the pinnacle of live sports broadcasting.

Finally, Diffey emphasized the profound long-term significance of the victory for the winning driver, Buescher, framing it as a major accomplishment in the context of the sport’s new road course superstar. “Think about what that win means to Chris right that’s almost like a like a David and Goliath on the road courses and as good as Chris is on the road courses right, SVG is the target for everybody and the list of people who have beaten Shane Van Gisbergen on a road course is very small and Chris Buescher has his name on that list so that’s a very proud moment for Chris and for RFK,” he said.

This win, Buescher’s first Cup Series victory at a road course and his second for RFK Racing in 2024, was a statement victory for a driver and team who had missed the playoffs. By defeating SVG, who came to NASCAR as an international road-course ringer and has demonstrated near-unbeatable speed on the circuit, Buescher proved that he and the RFK program could take the fight to the sport’s best on any track type. But for one NASCAR broadcaster, the 2025 season marks the end of an era.

NASCAR broadcaster bids farewell after 40 years behind the mic

NASCAR’s broadcasting legacy continued to evolve as another iconic voice prepares to sign off. Veteran NASCAR Broadcaster Mark Garrow announced that he will retire at the end of the 2025 season, ending a 40-year journey that paralleled the sport’s rise from regional roots to national prominence.

“To think I’ve been broadcasting Cup Series races for more than 40 years, that I was on the air when Richard Petty won his 200th race, that I have done close to 10,000 daily radio shows, and that I have worked with so many great people along the way has been a great blessing,” Garrow said.

From his early work with MRN to becoming the familiar voice of PRN’s Garage Pass, Garrow helped define how NASCAR sounded to millions of fans. His resume includes founding Winston Cup Today with Capitol Sports Network, helping Chuck Brown’s 1990 Busch Series title team, and earning multiple honors, including six National Motorsports Press Association Broadcaster of the Year awards and the first-ever Barney Hall Award. “I’ve always appreciated Mike Joy and John McMullin opening the door for me to work at MRN and the folks at Capitol Sports for allowing me to build a radio network from the ground up,” he reflected.

Garrow’s partnership with Doug Rice in the PRN booth became a mainstay for race-day radio, while his Vermont roots and short-track upbringing grounded his storytelling. “I look back on my career starting as a short-track promoter and all of the things that have happened in between, it’s been an amazing ride,” he said, hinting he’ll stay connected to the sport.

His decision comes as NASCAR’s broadcast landscape continues to shift, following Rick Allen’s sudden NBC exit earlier in 2024, marking a poignant moment for fans who grew up with Garrow’s unmistakable voice.