NASCAR’s TV coverage is almost as infamous as the sport itself. Over the years, broadcasters have kept experimenting with ways to improve the TV experience. But those efforts often end up getting scrutinized by fans who are sharp enough to differentiate between a gimmick and an actual upgrade. That’s what has happened with the newest broadcaster to join the NASCAR coverage.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
Starting this weekend at the Iowa Speedway, USA Sports will handle the NASCAR coverage for the final 14 races of the 2026 season. And they’re already intending to have a bold start.
According to a report by Sports Video Group tweeted by Adam Stern, USA Sports “is placing pit reporter Trevor Bayne inside the pace car at the beginning of the race and during restarts…Bayne could provide intel on what’s about to happen near the resumption of the race after a restart in its final moments.”
Executive Producer and Senior Vice President of USA Sports Jeff Behnke and Lead Producer Rene Hatlelid have selected Bayne for his extensive experience in the sport. Before Bayne entered broadcasting, he had a notable NASCAR career, being the youngest Daytona 500 winner in 2011 at the age of 20. He drove in NASCAR for around a decade before moving to the other side of the sport in 2022.
“It’s definitely a work in progress,” said Hatlelid about the idea. “But everybody has put in a lot of hard work into this. NASCAR has been extremely open-minded to taking this idea in.”
The first race will naturally be an experiment for them to see how this can work. Apart from the final restarts, the broadcasting team is also looking at other similar places that can be covered.
But while the broadcaster sees this as a part of innovation, fans see it differently. Usually, it’s FOX that’s at the receiving end due to the bulk of coverage it handles. But it seems the newest member is already getting the taste of it before their experimentation is on track.
Fans see this as another gimmick
While a few fans did get curious to know how this would turn out, most of them don’t see this update as a helpful one.
One fan said, “Having Driven and ridden in pace cars before I can say with all certainty that he will add zero insight in what his happening with the competitors behind him. The driver does what they tell him on the radio and the passenger can only see the front of the lead car.”
The fan’s point that comes from their own experience is that the pace cars run in front of the grid. So Trevor Bayne will only see the front of the lead car and will not be in a position to give more insight as to what’s happening behind the front row. The TV audience already has the rest of the information via radio. Which is why another questioned, “Lol what insight is he going to give from the pace car??”
One fan commented that the idea is pointless and could cause further delay. “Here’s what will happen: blah, blah, blah. Restart: cars can’t pass and a 15 lap yellow flag for a piece of tape that came from somewhere.”
NASCAR has faced scrutiny for long cautions anyway, where veterans like Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick have mentioned how time-consuming it is, with Harvick mentioning the debris cleanup specifically. And this fan is sarcastically taunting about how races are stopped for “phantom debris cautions” as they call it on social media, for the smallest or even unverified debris.
“Gimmick idea that no one asked for,” said the next, while another simply mentioned that it is a “Totally stupid idea.”
Because fans feel that this concept is not very productive or provides any fruitful insight, they see this as a pointless attempt, or a “gimmick.”
Lastly, after seeing this news, one fan simply called for the next step of action: “All the races need to be on peacock.”
What do you feel? Is this an upgrade or another gimmick?