2025 Daytona 500: FOX Sports Looks To Ride Super Bowl LIX Momentum Into NASCAR Season FOX leverages NASCAR experience for newly added IndyCar Series next month By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Friday, February 14, 2025 - 4:18 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Although, technically, FOX Sports kicked off its 2025 NASCAR campaign with the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium two weeks ago, the rubber truly hits the road this week in Daytona. The broadcaster heads into its 25th consecutive season of NASCAR coverage and its 22nd Daytona 500 broadcast (tied for the most by any broadcaster) with a new media-rights deal and plenty of production-technology firepower.
Four-time Indy 500 champion H lio Castroneves will make his first appearance in the Daytona 500 this weekend.
The Daytona 500 is a big race in every respect, says FOX Sports, EVP, Technical and Field Operations, Mike Davies. Not only is it an iconic race with so much history, but it's also very long track at 2 miles, it has one of the largest [entry lists], it has the most races throughout the week of any [NASCAR event], and it has a massive pregame show and concert. When we say big,' we're not talking only about the spectacle of the whole thing; we're talking about the size of the event itself. In terms of production enhancements, we [deploy] as many resources as possible to cover every angle of this race.
FOX Sports' weekends will look very different under the terms of the new NASCAR rights deals. The CW network is set to become exclusive home of the NASCAR Xfinity Series, freeing Saturdays for FOX to launch its newly acquired IndyCar Series package.
This is a very special year for FOX, says Davies, not only because we get to re-up our contract with NASCAR and do some of the more iconic races at the beginning of the season but also because we know that this runs right into our new contract with IndyCar. We are looking forward to seeing how these two racing series one right after the other can serve racing fans' appetite.
Drones Lead the Way FOX's 1080p HDR production of the race - and its sprawling two-hour pregame show (beginning at 11:30 a.m. ET) - will feature an arsenal of more than 50 cameras (plus in-car systems) and will rely more than ever on drones provided by Beverly Hills Aerials (with transmission handled by BSI). The broadcaster will deploy three types of drones: an FPV drone, a high-speed drone, and a heavy-duty cinema drone.
FOX will use three types of drones at Daytona: an FPV drone, a high-speed drone, and a heavy-duty cinema drone.
Among other key tools are BSI in-car GyroCam units and Sony Hawk-Eye extraction capabilities from a Sony HDC-5500 4K camera. FOX's assortment of cameras distributed throughout the track includes a large complement of Sony HDC-4300, -4800, and -5500 broadcast cameras; a bevy of Fletcher robotics (mostly outfitted with Sony HDC-P31 camera heads); and several specialty units.
FOX also continues to escalate its use of virtual graphics and AR within the broadcast, including optical car pointers. It is taking optical tracking data provided by NASCAR (via BOLT6) and giving that data to SMT to create enhanced optical tracking pointers for aerial coverage.
In the compound, FOX Sports' operation will be based in Game Creek Video Cleatus mobile units, which will serve as the broadcaster's NASCAR home all season.
FOX and Beverly Hills Aerials continue to ramp up use of drones for NASCAR coverage.
Cosm Comes Aboard FOX is also working with Cosm to produce and deliver this year's Daytona 500 to the tech company's immersive Shared Reality venues in Los Angeles and Dallas for the first time. Leveraging multiple vantage points throughout the Daytona International Speedway, Cosm's cameras will deliver real-time footage, and its spatial high-fidelity audio will deliver the roar of the race to its 12K+ LED domes, allowing guests to feel like they are right in the middle of NASCAR's biggest race.
Cosm has carried many different sports, but this weekend's Daytona 500 will mark a new chapter with motorsports.
It has been exciting to work with them on several events, including the Super Bowl, says Davies. The question is, how we can present a race over the course of 2 miles inside a dome? You can't do it the same way that you would do a basketball, soccer, or football game.
It's going to be learning process, he continues. Our production folks are working with Cosm to help guide them in terms of how to make motorsports successful in the dome. They understand that they are going to have to treat it a little differently, whether that means multiple windows [on the LED screen] or perhaps switching cameras less frequently. We're all working together to figure out some best practices.
The team is also looking to use Cosm's proprietary camera rigs to offer fans a panoramic view of the race within the FOX broadcast as well. We are working closely with Cosm to see if we can use any of their cameras for our coverage at Daytona, says Davies. I think we will make it happen. Those amazing cameras and lenses [provide some] panoramic views that can be useful in the traditional broadcast - not unlike what we did with them for the Super Bowl.
If the Audio Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It When you have a good thing going, you don't mess with it. That's essentially how Senior Audio Engineer Kevin McCloskey approaches the audio for the race. That's not surprising, given that the production has garnered the broadcaster and its audio crew several Emmy Awards for Outstanding Live Event Audio, most recently in 2023.
When you have a good product like the one we have here for the race's sound, he says, you want to keep it going.
Behind the scenes in Daytona at a FO
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality
Kate Luvis May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Digitizing VHS, MiniDV, and other legacy formats doe...
29/05/2026
Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Workflow replaces a patchwork of legacy tools...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
At the Intersection of Music and Dance, an Epic Collaboration Boston Conservatory musicians and dancers found creative parallels in their recent performance o...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
Latino Film Institute Fellows Screen Their Short Films at the Egyptian Theatre
The Inclusion Fellowship and Spark Animation Grant uplifts 15 ...
29/05/2026
GLOOKAST LAUNCHES CINNAFILM TACHYON PLUGIN FOR MEDIA PRODUCER AND MEDIA SERVICES
This release first appeared here.
Visit our Tachyon product page or contact...
29/05/2026
May 29 2026, 09:00 (PDT) Dolby and rednote Bring More Immersive Storytelling to...
29/05/2026
Something fundamental has shifted in how people consume media. Audiences aren't abandoning television or radio content; they're just expanding how, wher...
29/05/2026
Youtube exclusive special drops today
Watch now
UKTV today announces another e...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
The Official Trailer of Physical 100 Italy, on Netflix From Se...
2025 Daytona 500: FOX Sports Looks To Ride Super Bowl LIX Momentum Into NASCAR Season FOX leverages NASCAR experience for newly added IndyCar Series next month By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S. 
