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Longtime NASCAR Insider Has Major Problem With FOX Broadcast

Originally posted on The Spun | By Tzvi Machlin | Last updated Apr 29, 2025 10:33 AM ET

As exciting as the NASCAR action at Talladega Superspeedway was this past Sunday, fans watching at home were left fuming by the FOX broadcast.

With just 10 laps remaining in the Jack Link's 500, FOX made the controversial decision to cut to a commercial break - potentially risking fans being able to see some of the thrilling action. There was certainly no shortage of complaints about the very matter.

But The Athletic's NASCAR insider Jeff Gluck believes that the commercial controversy runs a bit deep. On Sunday's episode of The Teardown, Gluck suggested that the departure of longtime director Artie Kempner may have been the cause. He mused that Kempner may have orchestrated a commercial break to mark his displeasure with leaving.

“There was a commercial late in the race from 12 to go to five to go, there was commercials all day...” Gluck said. “I get it was Artie Kempner‘s last day as FOX director, so maybe he was like, ‘ah, what are they going to do? Get mad at me? Bye.’ You finally get to where they’re racing. All day you’re waiting for them to race, they finally race and they’re like, ‘this is a great time to go to commercial.'”

But Gluck's podcast partner Jordan Bianchi saw it a bit differently. He pointed out that it may have simply been an issue with the race being on a major network and that the major networks generally have more commercials.

“I didn’t see it but if that’s the case, that’s not good,” Bianchi said. “That’s the thing of being on a network too. Like, this is the first network race in how many weeks? When you’re on a network, there are more commercials. Not defending them, just stating how this is.”

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - DECEMBER 04: A detail view of a Fox Sports logo is seen on a broadcast camera during the Big Ten Championship Game between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Michigan Wolverines on December 04, 2021, at Lucas Oil Stadium, in Indianapolis, IL. (Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

That explanation isn't likely to satisfy NASCAR fans, whose tolerance for broadcast nonsense has a limit.

If FOX tries something like that again, they may come to regret it.

Austin Cindric went on to win the race by 22 thousandths of a second. Kyle Larson, William Byron, Noah Gragson and Chase Elliott rounded out the top five. The remaining top 10 consisted of Carson Hocevar, Alex Bowman, Bubba Wallace, Daniel Suarez and Austin Dillon.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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