On November 11, 1999, NASCAR centralized its television rights for the first time, ending an era in which individual race tracks negotiated their own broadcast deals. The resulting agreement awarded rights to four networks: Fox and its cable partner FX would cover the first half of the Cup Series season, while NBC and Turner Sports (initially TBS, later TNT) would cover the second half. Fox's initial contract was valued at $2.4 billion and ran through the 2008 season, while NBC and TNT's arrangement covered six years through 2006.
Under the arrangement, Fox and NBC alternated coverage of the Daytona 500 — Fox in odd-numbered years, NBC in even-numbered years. The network not airing the 500 in a given year would instead televise Daytona's summer race, the Pepsi 400. FX served as the primary cable outlet for Busch Series races and most Cup Series night events during the first half of the season.
Fox's inaugural broadcast — the 2001 Daytona 500 — became historically significant for a tragic reason. Dale Earnhardt was fatally injured in a crash on the final lap. Fox concluded its coverage shortly after Earnhardt was taken to hospital, before his death was confirmed at a press conference at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time, drawing criticism for the abrupt sign-off while other networks provided more extensive follow-up coverage.
On December 7, 2005, NASCAR signed a new eight-year deal with Fox and Speed Channel valued at $4.48 billion, effective from the 2007 season. Under this arrangement, Fox became the exclusive broadcaster of the Daytona 500 and held rights to the first thirteen points-paying Cup Series races each year. Speed Channel, also owned by Fox, carried the Camping World Truck Series in full from 2003 onwards, as well as selected qualifying races and practice sessions.
TNT carried six mid-season Cup races, while ESPN and ABC shared the second half of the season. In August 2013, Speed Channel was rebranded as Fox Sports 1, with NASCAR coverage transferring to the new channel.
In October 2012, NASCAR extended its agreement with Fox Sports through 2022, with a further two-year extension announced in August 2013 taking the deal through 2024. Fox's coverage expanded to the first sixteen Cup Series races per season, alongside the first fourteen Xfinity Series events. Fox retained exclusive coverage of the Daytona 500 and the Sprint All-Star Race under this arrangement.
Fox Sports 1 absorbed the cable share of the rights package, carrying races that did not air on the main Fox network. The Craftsman Truck Series remained exclusively on FS1, with occasional races migrating to Fox. Spanish-language network Fox Deportes also began airing select Cup races, either live or on a delayed basis, from 2013.
In November 2023, Fox extended its contract through 2031. Under the new deal, Fox covers the first fourteen Cup Series races of the season — a reduction from the previous arrangement. Fox Sports retains full coverage of the Truck Series, with the majority of races on FS1 and select events on Fox.
Fox introduced several technical and presentational changes that became standard across NASCAR broadcasts. The network was the first to display a scoring banner across the top of the screen during telecasts, replacing the corner-box format used by earlier broadcasters. Fox also pioneered the use of each car number's unique font and styling in on-screen graphics, a practice later adopted by NBC, TNT, and ESPN.
In 2019, Fox introduced an augmented reality GhostCar system for qualifying coverage, overlaying a real-time representation of a previous driver's lap onto live footage of another driver's attempt.
One of the more contentious creative decisions during Fox's tenure was the introduction of Digger, a CGI-animated gopher character used in connection with the network's turn cameras from 2008 onwards. Digger attracted substantial criticism from regular viewers who felt the character diminished the broadcast's focus on racing. After mounting fan opposition, Fox quietly reduced Digger's appearances through 2011 and dropped the character entirely from broadcasts midway through the 2012 season.
From 2001 through the 2018 season, Fox used a portable facility known as the Hollywood Hotel for pre-race coverage at most venues. Mike Joy has served as Fox's primary lap-by-lap announcer across much of the broadcast partnership. Notable color commentators have included Darrell Waltrip, who stepped back from the booth after the 2018 season, and Jeff Gordon, who joined Fox following his retirement from driving and later left to take on a management role at Hendrick Motorsports.
On multiple occasions Fox produced all-driver broadcast crews for Xfinity and Truck Series races, including a 2017 Xfinity race at Pocono Raceway and a 2018 Xfinity race at Talladega Superspeedway, each staffed entirely by active Cup Series competitors covering lap-by-lap commentary, color analysis, and pit road reporting.