The CW Bursts Onto NASCAR Xfinity Scene With High-Energy Pre-Race Show, Reimagined Graphics Package

The CW Bursts Onto NASCAR Xfinity Scene With High-Energy Pre-Race Show, Reimagined Graphics Package NASCAR Productions assembles race coverage via world-feed model By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor

Thursday, February 27, 2025 - 7:00 am

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The Great American Race in Daytona waved the green flag on the 2025 NASCAR season two weekends ago, and the motorsports organization's up-and-coming stars' battles in the Xfinity Series began with the United Rentals 300. New to the NASCAR broadcasting circuit this year is The CW, which aims to break the traditional mold with a modern approach to its graphics package while recruiting a slate of on-air talent who will both educate and energize fans on race day.

When we started working on this project, says Jason Wormser, SVP, sports, The CW, we knew we needed our coverage to be different. What is most important for us is to tell the stories that are unique to this series - not just the front running teams but drivers throughout the grid. There are a lot of interesting characters in the Xfinity Series, and it is our charge to get them in front of our viewers.

Having aired eight races in 2024, The CW will produce the NASCAR Xfinity Series through the 2031 season.

Eight-Race Rehearsal: Final Races of 2024 Provide Test Run Before Official Debut Before formally debuting in the Florida sunshine, The CW went on a test run as NASCAR neared the end of its 2024 season. Under a partnership with NBC Sports, The CW collaborated with NBCSN to air the final eight races of the Xfinity calendar. Wormser and his team met every single driver and team to introduce themselves to the starting grid and gain information on the participants they would be covering. The eight-race stretch began with the regular-season finale at the Food City 300 in Bristol, TN, on Sept. 20 and included seven playoff races every Saturday from Sept. 28 to Nov. 9.

The dress rehearsal was paramount in setting The CW up for success this year. We had eight races to tell the NASCAR audience that this is where you come starting in February, says Wormser. [NBC and NASCAR] were incredible in terms of their professionalism, and [NBC Sports VP, NASCAR Production,] Jeff Behnke and his team were magnificent. We gained a lot of knowledge, and I think we wouldn't be where we are today without having those eight races.

In the booth, Adam Alexander, Jamie McMurray, and Parker Kligerman take fans through the action.

The test races not only gave Wormser and his crew an idea of what it takes to televise them from a technical perspective but also offered the broadcaster a chance to develop an engaging plan for studio programming to bookend the action on the track. NASCAR Countdown Live, the network's premier pre/post-race studio show, was onsite in Daytona and at the Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250 in Atlanta last weekend, but many of the show's graphic and design elements were produced before the start of the season.

We kept asking how we can establish ourselves [from the rest] on the air, says Wormser. We put a premium on our on-air announcing team. It's young, fresh, and full of energy. We wanted to establish Adam [Alexander] as our lead voice of the series to the audience and welcome everyone into our coverage. I thought it was important to have Adam open the show on the beach in Daytona because that's where the concept for NASCAR began over 75 years ago. That first week turned into a great foundation for a successful season.

NASCAR Countdown Live, hosted by Carla Metts, sets the table on race day.

Pre-race host Carla Metts leads the studio show, and Alexander is joined in the booth by analysts Jamie McMurray and Parker Kligerman. The on-air talent team is rounded out by pit reporters Dillon Welch and Kim Coon. The broadcast crew was assembled through a collaboration between Wormser and the NASCAR Productions duo of Senior Coordinating Producer Keith D'Alessandro and Managing Director, Internal Productions, Matt Roper. A long list of talent was considered, but these professionals were the ideal team to break down racing while bringing fun and energy to the production. On a week-to-week basis, the Xfinity Series allows both studio and commentary teams to adjust as they go along. It is up to Wormser and The CW Executive Director, Sports, Jonathan Biles to balance feedback for it and for other shows under their aegis.

It's important for us to give out notes and watch our shows neutrally so everybody gets proper feedback, notes Wormser. We're seeing if we're telling the right stories, being editorially correct, and what we can improve on.

Along with support by D'Alessandro and Roper, the show is driven by NASCAR Productions Pre-Race Coordinating Producer/Senior Director Jeff Politsch.

Standing Out: Horizontal Leaderboard Headlines Graphics Package One of the biggest standouts of this new season has been a reimagined graphics package. In The CW's first season in a seven-year partnership with the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the broadcaster wanted to infuse its color palette of black and hot sauce orange into a large chunk of the marketing material. With Two Fresh Creative helping develop the opens and promotional graphics, the branding of NASCAR and The CW were tied together in a perfect way.

A horizontal bumper replaces the traditional vertical pylon as the televised leaderboard.

We needed to engage with race fans and be able to present these drivers in a way that had never been done before, notes Paul Catalano, VP, sports marketing, CW Sports. These drivers are bold, so we wanted to be bold with our creative.

Outside of opens and promotional material, the most notable difference between The CW and other networks broadcasting NASCAR races is the horizontal leaderboard. Positioned

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