List of Daytona 500 broadcasters

The following is a list of the American television networks and announcers who have broadcast NASCAR's annual Daytona 500 throughout the years.

1950s-1960s

Year	Network	Lap-by-lap	Color commentator(s)
1959
1960	CBS	Bud Palmer
1961
1962	ABC's WWOS	Jim McKay	Stirling Moss
1963	ABC's WWOS	Bill Flemming	Chris Economaki
1964	ABC's WWOS	Bill Flemming	Chris Economaki
1965	ABC's WWOS	Bill Flemming	Dan Gurney
1966	ABC's WWOS	Curt Gowdy	Rodger Ward and Chris Economaki
1967	ABC's WWOS	Jim McKay	Chris Economaki
1968	ABC's WWOS	Bill Flemming	Chris Economaki
1969	ABC's WWOS	Bill Flemming	Chris Economaki

Notes

• The first known telecast of a NASCAR race was the 1960 Daytona 500, parts of which was presented as part of CBS Sports Spectacular, with announcer Bud Palmer.^[1]

• Before 1974, the Daytona 500 was shown as a filmed (before 1972) or videotaped highlight package the following week on ABC's Wide World of Sports.^[2]
• During the period on Wide World of Sports, the booth announcers typically served as roving pit reporters during the running of the race, as well as interviewing in victory lane. The booth commentary was recorded in post-production.

1970s

Year	Network	Lap-by-lap	Color commentator(s)	Pit reporters	Ratings[3]	Viewers[3]
1970	ABC's WWOS	Keith Jackson	Chris Economaki	** (see below)
1971	ABC's WWOS	Keith Jackson	Chris Economaki	** (see below)
1972	ABC's WWOS	Keith Jackson	Chris Economaki	** (see below)
1973	ABC's WWOS	Jim McKay	Jackie Stewart and Chris Economaki	** (see below)
1974	ABC	Keith Jackson	Jackie Stewart	Chris Economaki	10.9/29	12.5 million
1975	ABC	Bill Flemming	Jackie Stewart		11.8/31	15.1 million
1976	ABC	Bill Flemming	Jackie Stewart	Chris Economaki	12.8/37	18.3 million
1977	ABC	Jim McKay	Jackie Stewart and Chris Economaki		12.9/35	16.0 million
1978	ABC	Jim McKay	Jackie Stewart	Chris Economaki	11.8/33	20.9 million
1979[4]	CBS	Ken Squier	David Hobbs	Ned Jarrett and Brock Yates	10.5/29	15.1 million

Notes

• In 1974, ABC began the first live coverage (joined-in-progress) of the Daytona 500. Coverage was normally timed to begin when the race was halfway over. ABC aired approximately, the last 90 minutes of the race from 1974-1978.
• During the period on Wide World of Sports, the booth announcers typically served as roving pit reporters during the running of the race, as well as interviewing in victory lane. The booth commentary was recorded in post-production.
• The 1976 Daytona 500 was held on the same day of the final day of competition in the Winter Olympics (also broadcast on ABC). ABC carried 30 minutes of live coverage of the start, then switched to the Olympics for an hour-and-a-half to carry taped coverage of the final two competitive events (a cross-country ski race and the final runs in the bobsled), held earlier that day. Then it was back to Daytona for about an hour-and-a-half for the finish.
• In 1979, CBS instituted the “flag-to-flag” coverage policy.^[5][6]

1980s

Year	Network	Lap-by-lap	Color commentator(s)	Pit reporters	Ratings[3]	Viewers[3]
1980	CBS	Ken Squier	David Hobbs	Ned Jarrett and Brock Yates	8.0/21	10.8 million
1981	CBS	Ken Squier	David Hobbs	Ned Jarrett and Brock Yates	8.4/26	11.2 million
1982	CBS	Ken Squier	David Hobbs	Ned Jarrett and Larry Nuber	9.4/27	11.8 million
1983	CBS	Ken Squier	David Hobbs	Ned Jarrett and Larry Nuber	8.7/26	11.0 million
1984	CBS	Ken Squier	David Hobbs	Chris Economaki, Ned Jarrett and Mike Joy	8.7/23	12.3 million
1985	CBS	Ken Squier	David Hobbs and Ned Jarrett	Chris Economaki and Mike Joy	8.3/23	9.8 million
1986	CBS	Ken Squier	David Hobbs and Ned Jarrett	Chris Economaki and Mike Joy	8.4/22	10.3 million
1987	CBS	Ken Squier	David Hobbs and Ned Jarrett	Chris Economaki, Mike Joy and Dave Despain	9.4/26	12.4 million
1988	CBS	Ken Squier	Ned Jarrett and Chris Economaki	Mike Joy and Dave Despain	7.4/18	10.0 million
1989	CBS	Ken Squier	Ned Jarrett and Chris Economaki	Mike Joy and Dave Despain	8.1/21	12.0 million

1990s

Year	Network	Lap-by-lap	Color commentator(s)	Pit reporters	Pre-Race Host	Ratings[3]	Viewers[3]
1990	CBS	Ken Squier	Ned Jarrett and Chris Economaki	Mike Joy, Dave Despain and David Hobbs		7.3/20	10.5 million
1991	CBS	Ken Squier	Ned Jarrett and David Hobbs	Mike Joy, Dave Despain and Chris Economaki		7.6/20	10.9 million
1992	CBS	Ken Squier	Ned Jarrett and Neil Bonnett	Mike Joy, David Hobbs and Chris Economaki		9.2/25	13.4 million
1993	CBS	Ken Squier	Ned Jarrett and Neil Bonnett	Mike Joy, David Hobbs and Chris Economaki		8.4/23	12.7 million
1994	CBS	Ken Squier	Ned Jarrett and Chris Economaki	Mike Joy, Dick Berggren and David Hobbs		9.6/26	13.6 million
1995	CBS	Ken Squier	Ned Jarrett and Richard Petty	Mike Joy, Dick Berggren and David Hobbs		7.8/20	11.4 million
1996	CBS	Ken Squier	Ned Jarrett and Buddy Baker	Mike Joy, Dick Berggren and David Hobbs		9.2/24	13.9 million
1997	CBS	Ken Squier	Ned Jarrett and Buddy Baker	Mike Joy, Dick Berggren and Ralph Sheheen		8.6/23	12.8 million
1998	CBS	Mike Joy	Ned Jarrett and Buddy Baker	Dick Berggren, Ralph Sheheen and Bill Stephens	Ken Squier	8.6/23	13.0 million
1999	CBS	Mike Joy	Ned Jarrett and Buddy Baker	Dick Berggren, Ralph Sheheen and Bill Stephens	Greg Gumbel and Ken Squier	9.6/25	12.9 million

Notes

• Since 1995, U.S. television ratings for the Daytona 500 have been the highest for any auto race of the year, surpassing the traditional leader, the Indianapolis 500. The 2006 Daytona 500 attracted the sixth largest average live global TV audience of any sporting event that year with 20 million viewers.^[7]
• 1995: Includes a two-hour rain delay. Some markets did not have the race, as CBS lost major market affiliates during the 1994-95 season.
• 1998-1999: Ken Squier served as host. Former pit reporter Mike Joy was elevated to the lap-by-lap position starting in 1998, and longtime announcer Squier was retained in a host position.

2000s

Year	Network	Lap-by-lap	Color commentators	Pit reporters	Pre-Race Host	Pre-Race Analyst(s)	Ratings[3]	Viewers[3]
2000	CBS	Mike Joy	Ned Jarrett and Buddy Baker	Dick Berggren, Ralph Sheheen and Bill Stephens	Ken Squier		8.4/22	12.9 million
2001	Fox	Mike Joy	Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds	Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum and Jeanne Zelasko	Chris Myers	Jeff Hammond, Darrell Waltrip and Ken Squier	10.0/24	17.1 million
2002	NBC	Allen Bestwick	Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach	Bill Weber, Dave Burns, Marty Snider and Matt Yocum	Bill Weber		10.9/26	18.8 million
2003	Fox	Mike Joy	Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds	Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum and Jeanne Zelasko	Chris Myers	Jeff Hammond and Darrell Waltrip	9.8/21	16.8 million
2004	NBC	Allen Bestwick	Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach	Bill Weber, Dave Burns, Marty Snider and Matt Yocum	Bill Weber		10.6/24	17.8 million
2005	Fox	Mike Joy	Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds	Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum and Jeanne Zelasko	Chris Myers	Jeff Hammond and Darrell Waltrip	10.9/23	18.7 million
2006	NBC	Bill Weber	Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach	Allen Bestwick, Dave Burns, Marty Snider and Matt Yocum	Bill Weber		11.3/23	19.4 million
2007	Fox	Mike Joy	Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds	Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum and Krista Voda	Chris Myers	Jeff Hammond and Darrell Waltrip	10.1/20	17.5 million
2008	Fox	Mike Joy	Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds	Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum and Krista Voda	Chris Myers	Jeff Hammond and Darrell Waltrip	10.2/20	17.8 million
2009	Fox	Mike Joy	Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds	Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum and Krista Voda	Chris Myers	Jeff Hammond and Darrell Waltrip	9.2/19	16.0 million

Notes

• 2001: After CBS lost the rights to the Daytona 500, Squier left the network and joined Fox for a one-race arrangement as special contributor and studio host.
• 2003: Various rain delays led to race being shortened to 109 laps.
• 2007: Race finished in prime-time hour (7 PM EST).
• 2009: Rain shortened to 151 laps.

2010s

Year	Network	Lap-by-lap	Color commentators	Pit reporters	Pre-Race Host	Pre-Race Analyst(s)	Ratings	Viewers
2010	Fox	Mike Joy	Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds	Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum and Krista Voda	Chris Myers	Jeff Hammond and Darrell Waltrip	7.7/16[8]	13.3 million
2011	Fox	Mike Joy	Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds	Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum and Krista Voda	Chris Myers	Jeff Hammond and Darrell Waltrip	8.7[9]	15.6 million
2012	Fox	Mike Joy	Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds	Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum, Krista Voda, and Jeff Hammond	Chris Myers	Michael Waltrip and Darrell Waltrip
2013	Fox
2014	Fox

• Per the current broadcast agreements, the Daytona 500 will be televised by Fox through 2014.
• 2010: Two delays totaling 150 minutes caused by track break up. Finished in prime-time.

See also

• Daytona 500#Television
• NASCAR on television and radio

Sources

1. ^ Ultimate NASCAR, ESPN Books, 2007, p. 42-43
2. ^ NASCAR had puttered along for its first couple of decades -- stereotyped as redneck and relegated to "Wide World of Sports" segments when it could pitch the product to TV at all. Then came Daytona 1979 and the decision by CBS to televise the 500 from start to finish on a Sunday when a snowstorm paralyzed the East Coast. Stay-at-homes -- this was pre-cable, remember -- had few options to blunt cabin fever.
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} "Daytona 500 numbers game.". Sports Media Watch. 2009-02-17. http://sportsmediawatch.blogspot.com/2009/02/daytona-500-numbers-game.html. Retrieved 2009-07-09. 
4. ^ February 18, 1979 CBS Sports' broadcasts the first live flag-to-flag NASCAR race during the Daytona 500. Richard Petty takes the checkered flag. Viewers are introduced to pictures from Race-Vision, the stationary camera mounted inside a car.
5. ^ Mark Aumann (January 23, 2003). "1979: Petty winds up in 'fist' place". Turner Sports Interactive. http://www.nascar.com/2003/kyn/history/daytona/01/23/daytona_1979/. Retrieved 2007-06-09. 
6. ^ "1979 Daytona 500". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000E4IED2. Retrieved 2007-06-09. 
7. ^ "World’s most watched TV sports events: 2006 Rank & Trends report". Initiative. 2007-01-19. Archived from the original on 2007-02-08. http://web.archive.org/web/20070208200248/http://initiative.com/static/prDec2006.html. Retrieved 2007-01-30. 
8. ^ since.html Daytona 500 Draws Lowest Rating Since 1991
9. ^ "Daytona 500: Ratings Rise, But Race Second-Lowest Rated Ever on FOX". Sports Media Watch. 2011-02-21. http://www.sportsmediawatch.net/2011/02/daytona-500-ratings-rise-but-race.html. Retrieved 2011-02-22. 

• Sportscasting History
• NASCAR Commentators Crews and Networks
• Daytona 500 numbers game.
• Daytona 500 broadcast history
• NASCAR 'Daytona 500' TV Ratings History + Your Guess For This Year (Poll)