NASCAR, IndyCar get new broadcast teams

Veteran motorsports broadcaster Leigh Diffey will take over as lead play-by-play voice of the NASCAR Cup Series starting this weekend at Daytona International Speedway.

Diffey, who has also called IndyCar, Formula 1 and Supercross, will join a booth that also features Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte. This will be the featured broadcast team through the championship race at Phoenix Raceway in November.

This is not the first time Diffey has called NASCAR races, as he did so back in 2017, and also interviewed for the role for TNT Sports for next season. Diffey is a native Australian, who has been an American citizen since 2011.

Rick Allen, who has primarily called Cup Series races for the network since the network acquired NASCAR’s TV rights back in 2015 will move into the Xfinity Series lead play-by-play voice role through the end of the season.

Allen will also call the races when the Xfinity Series moves to the CW Network, albeit with NBC Sports production, starting on September 20. Allen was previously the lead play-by-play voice of the Craftsman Truck Series.

Diffey has served as the IndyCar Series lead play-by-play voice since 2013 and will be replaced in that role by Kevin Lee, a veteran radio pit road reporter turned TV play-by-play voice who is currently serving in that role for Indy Lights.

He will call races alongside Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe.