NASCAR’s Race Broadcast Labelled “Awful” as NBC Blunders Big Time

With engines revving and championship hopes burning bright, the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs kicked off with a meticulously choreographed broadcast schedule, designed to keep fans on the edge of their seats from start to finish. The Round of 16 commenced with the Southern 500 at Darlington on August 31, airing on USA Network, followed by the second playoff race, the Enjoy Illinois 300 at Gateway, broadcast live on USA on September 7. This marked the start of back-to-back high-stakes races, with USA also slated to carry the Bristol Night Race on September 13. NBC and Peacock would step in for the later playoff rounds and the championship at Phoenix on November 2. And no sooner had the schedule been applauded than the first broadcast hiccup of the postseason arrived.

August brought a reminder that even the most seasoned networks can fumble their cues. During the August 2025 Iowa Speedway race, viewers and critics alike browned out as the Fox broadcast stumbled through a series of missteps. Fans labeled the coverage “lackluster,” griping about excessive commercial interruptions, bland booth chemistry, and cartoonish graphics that made the on-track action feel sterile. Especially galling were the Daytona 500’s “side-by-side only” commercials, once hailed as innovative, that turned sour when Fox cut away late at Talladega while the race was still red hot, igniting fan outrage. The playoff pressure was on, and broadcast reliability was already showing cracks. Yet the real shocker was still on the horizon, and it wasn’t on the track.

Then came Gateway, and the visuals weren’t what fans expected. As the NASCAR Cup Series playoff showdown at Gateway unfolded live on USA Network, viewers were taken aback, not by the drama on the track, but by the unnerving visuals on their screens. As CBS Sports‘ Steven Taranto reported, “Second race of the NASCAR playoffs from Gateway is now live on USA (Anyone else think the broadcast’s colors are way oversaturated?),” it was indeed the case for many fans eager to watch their favorites on the field, who called the broadcast “awful”. The broadcast’s color palette felt skewed, with washed-out whites, blasted-out highlights, and a relentless yellow tint that even made the announcers appear pale. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time NBC had left fans feeling underserved.

At a time when the sport is competing for attention across multiple platforms in broadcast, streaming, and simulcast, getting the look right isn’t optional; it’s essential.

Past missteps cast long shadows. This wasn’t an isolated glitch; NBC and its affiliates have repeatedly tested the patience of NASCAR’s fanbase. In one painful instance, the network bumped the Daytona race’s regular-season finale in favor of preseason football, prompting viewers to call it “worse than Fox.” Complaints flooded in about poor audio, disappointed hype, and a feeling that NASCAR was being relegated to second-tier status. The sentiment was clear: fans sensed that broadcast priorities were shifting toward streaming revenues, not delivering the marquee motorsports experience they expected. If broadcast quality is the lifeblood of fan engagement, the current pulse is worrisome.

From the carefully planned playoff schedule to technical stumbles on Fox and NBC, viewers’ enthusiasm is being tested at every turn. Fans are increasingly vocal, demanding clean visuals, consistent presentation, and respectful treatment of NASCAR’s heritage and excitement.

Fans cry foul over NBC’s oversaturated broadcast

One fan expressed their frustration, saying, “Why are these networks suddenly fu—g with saturation? First Fox now nbc…” This complaint hist double duty. It’s a direct callout of altered broadcast styling and a reflection of a larger frustration with a fractured coverage model. Across the media landscape, fans have noticed that camera grading, lighting setups, and post-processing tweaks vary drastically between networks, even between races, making each viewing feel like its own visual experiment.

Another fan bluntly captured the moment, “The saturation is AWFUL @NASCARonNBC. Like everything has like a yellowish tint.” NBC, Prime, TNT, and USA Network now share the burden of expectations in this multi-platform era. This isn’t the first time NBC’s color balance has come under fire. On top of the washed-out whites and blown-out highlights noted during the Gateway playoff broadcast, viewers across social media reported similar visual discomfort in earlier races, highlighting how over-processing the feed can turn vibrant liveries into lifeless hues. Fans have blasted the coverage not only for missing key on-track moments but also for offering visuals that some called “dull and gray,” indicating deeper production miscalibrations rather than isolated lighting issues.

The criticism intensified when a viewer complained: “Actually seems washed out, but also overexposed causing nuclear looking highlights.” Technically, broadcasters may struggle with HDR-to-SDR conversion or post-processing that clamps contrast, issues known to flatten depth and blow out highlights, especially on standard home TV settings. In Gateway’s case, the intense yellow hues weren’t just cosmetic irritants, but also skewed viewers’ perception, leaving track textures devoid of pop.

Another fan reflected, “1950s broadcast, adjust the bunny ears.” Fans wonder whether the fix was simply a nostalgic turn of knobs on an old TV set, a sharp contrast to the cutting-edge production tech that modern motorsports broadcasts promise. Just months prior, fans had lambasted NASCAR broadcasts for assorted misfires, with Fox being slammed for chaotic camera angles, AI-generated graphics, and misplaced crowd shots at Phoenix and COTA races. And this time, it is no longer surprising for fans, just frustrating.

Some others added, “i thought it was my tv bugging out this looks awful.” In addition to this, NBC’s opening montage of the Iowa race, complete with Deep Purple’s “Space Truckin’,” fell flat for many. The Gateway color mishap wasn’t an isolated glitch; it was the latest in a series of broadcast disappointments that have left fans scrambling, not for the race highlights, but to recalibrate their screens.