Before its formal entry into NASCAR broadcasting, NBC aired a number of races on an informal basis during the 1970s and 1980s, often as pre-recorded broadcasts within its sports anthology series Sportsworld. These included the National 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway from 1979 to 1981, the 1981 Mountain Dew 500 at Pocono International Raceway, and the Winston 500 at Alabama International Motor Speedway from 1983 to 1985. NBC also covered select races at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 1999 and 2000.
On November 11, 1999, NASCAR signed a centralized five-year broadcast rights deal valued at approximately $2.48 billion, splitting coverage between Fox and FX for the first half of the season, and NBC and Turner Sports for the second half. The contract took effect in 2001.
Under the arrangement, NBC partnered with TNT (rather than TBS, which Turner converted to a drama-focused network) to cover the second half of each Cup Series season. The Daytona 500 alternated between Fox and NBC, with NBC airing the race in even-numbered years; the network that did not air the 500 would instead cover Daytona's summer race, the Pepsi 400.
The initial NBC broadcast team was led by Allen Bestwick on play-by-play, who had previously worked for TBS and held experience covering NASCAR. Former driver and analyst Benny Parsons joined as lead color commentator, accompanied by Wally Dallenbach Jr., and pit reporters included Bill Weber, Dave Burns, Matt Yocum, and Marty Snider. The Metallica song "Fuel" served as the theme music for NBC and TNT's NASCAR coverage from mid-2001 through most of the 2003 season, with the opening scream temporarily removed following the September 11 attacks due to its perceived associations.
NBC's coverage featured several recurring segments that became audience favorites. "Wally's World" saw Wally Dallenbach drive a lap around the circuit, initially offering analysis before evolving into celebrity-guest interview segments. "Dave Discovers" sent pit reporter Dave Burns to engage in activities related to each venue — including bowling on Bristol's high banks and fishing at Darlington. The "Golden Benny Awards," in which Benny Parsons presented an informal honor to someone in the NASCAR community, ran until the segment was retired after the award was theatrically destroyed with a hammer by crew chief Frank Stoddard.
In October 2005, NBC announced it would not renew its NASCAR contract after the 2006 season, citing its acquisition of Sunday Night Football from ESPN. ESPN and ABC subsequently took over NBC's second-half rights, while TNT retained a mid-season package of six races.
On July 23, 2013, NBC signed a new nine-year agreement to carry NASCAR beginning in 2015. The deal covered the final twenty Cup Series races per season, all Xfinity Series races not on Fox, and select regional and international NASCAR series events. The financial terms were not disclosed, though industry reporting indicated NBC paid approximately 50 percent more than the combined amounts ESPN and Turner had paid under the preceding contract.
NBCSN served as the primary cable outlet for NBC's NASCAR coverage, carrying the majority of races while the NBC broadcast network aired seven to ten Cup races per season. Spanish-language rights went to Telemundo and mun2 (later Universo). NBC also acquired broadcast rights to the NASCAR Hall of Fame induction ceremony and post-season awards events.
Former crew chief Steve Letarte joined the broadcast team as color analyst ahead of the 2015 season, reuniting on air with former driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. when Earnhardt joined NBC in 2018 after retiring from full-time competition. The on-screen scoring system used each car's number in its distinctive font — a convention Fox had pioneered that NBC revived when its NASCAR coverage resumed.
NBCSN ceased operations in late 2021, with its NASCAR content migrating to USA Network. Dale Earnhardt Jr. departed NBC after the 2023 season to join Amazon and TNT's new NASCAR coverage package beginning in 2025.
In November 2023, NBC extended its NASCAR contract through 2031. Under the new agreement, NBC's coverage was significantly reduced to the final fourteen Cup Series races of the season; Xfinity Series rights moved to The CW. Beginning in 2026, the majority of NBC's Cup races moved to USA Sports, the cable entity formed after NBCUniversal spun off most of its cable channels as Versant, with NBC itself retaining production of four Cup races including the season championship.
During the 2020 season, NBC broadcast all races from a booth at Charlotte Motor Speedway, maintaining social distancing by keeping most on-air talent off-site. Only a small number of pit reporters traveled to venues. Mike Tirico hosted from trackside for the Indianapolis race, close enough to drive from his home. NBC's regular NASCAR America news and analysis programme, which had aired on NBCSN, ceased during the pandemic and did not return.
NBC matched the scoring presentation convention Fox had introduced, using each car's distinctive number font in its running-order graphic. In 2018 NBC introduced a vertical secondary leaderboard displayed on the left side of the screen, used selectively depending on camera angles rather than throughout the entire broadcast. The network's peacock logo bug changed colors — green, yellow, red, or white — in sync with the deployment of racing flags during events, a feature not replicated on USA Network. NBC updated its dedicated NASCAR graphics package in 2025 for the first time since resuming coverage a decade earlier; the new package is shared with NASCAR on Prime Video.