NASCAR is back after the Daytona 500 kicked off its nine-month, 36-race season. With racing back, that means something frustrating — commercials. It has been a critique of the past, and it remains a critique of today. As the races remain green, FOX shows them side by side with TV commercials. As fans want to watch the sport in its pure form, they grow frustrated when they can’t.
Racing is a tough sport for advertising; there is no doubt about that. In the NFL and the NBA, timeouts occur every five to ten minutes. In the MLB, they have at least 17 half-innings, plus calls to the bullpen. In NASCAR, there can be many cautions, but not 15+. The average is typically below eight per race. This forces the side-by-side coverage.
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Fans Grow Impatient with NASCAR Commercials
The 2026 Daytona 500 held Feb.15 at Daytona International Speedway.© Tim Shortt/ News-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
(© Tim Shortt/ News-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
If you were on X today, you likely saw some posts about these commercials. Fans reacted as so:
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“The Daytona 500 is the most unwatchable race in motorsports”
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“If you love commercials, the Daytona 500 is for you”
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“Its called the Daytona 500 for the amount of commercials”
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“Nine laps, two commercials”
The list goes on, and the frustration is clear. On the bright side, at least most commercials are side by side and no longer full-screen, so you don’t miss big race moments.
As we covered here on Athlon, the Daytona 500 did sell out of ads earlier this week. Sell-out, did you say? Yes. Though it may be hard to believe, NASCAR caps its ads. Nonetheless, they sold a lot with the commercials seemingly running once every ten laps.
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The answer is, well, N/A. To run such a large event and keep this series generating strong revenue, they must sell ads. The world is one of supply and demand, and sports are a form of entertainment. In that industry, ads are the main source of revenue. Especially for a cable channel like FOX, they must sell ads. If not, they will kick NASCAR to the curb, and that can’t happen. Enjoy the ads because they are going nowhere.
A unique, yet commercial-free way to tune in is with HBO Max. Granted, you have to pay, but you can view on-car dash footage. This is available for a limited number of cars at a time, but it can be a fun way to watch races, once it’s available on the NASCAR app.
This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Feb 16, 2026, where it first appeared in the Racing section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
