NBC announces Leigh Diffey assumes Cup Series play-by-play for NASCAR telecasts

NBC officially announced Tuesday that Leigh Diffey will transition to the NASCAR booth and serve as the lead play-by-play voice for the Cup Series, beginning with this Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

Diffey will continue in the role throughout the remainder of the season and the Cup Series championship at Phoenix on Nov. 10. Rick Allen, who has served as the lead announcer for NASCAR on NBC since 2015, will continue to call Xfinity Series races, including the final eight races of the season that will air on the CW Network.

Diffey previously filled in for Allen for two races back in 2017 and has extensive experience in motorsports. He has served as NBC‘s lead commentator for the IndyCar Series for more than a decade, including all six of the network’s Indy 500 broadcasts. In addition to NASCAR and IndyCar, Diffey has called Formula One, IMSA, Supercross and MotoGP races. Diffey just wrapped up serving as the lead track and field play-by-play commentator at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Leigh Diffey ‘excited’ about joining NASCAR Cup Series booth

“Excited. I’m really, really excited by it,” Diffey told Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic. “I’ve done a variety of NASCAR races over the years; way back, in my former life in Australia, there’s only one banked oval in Australia, and way back at the beginning of my career, in ’95, ’96 I want to say, I did the Australian version of NASCAR. Then here in the States, when I was with Speed Channel, I would do some practice and qualifying shows. And then when I joined NBC for a long time, I would be one of the hosts rotating on NASCAR America [studio show], and I got to do some Xfinity races at Mid-Ohio, Dover and Kansas and a variety of places. Then in 2017, I called two Cup races at Watkins Glen and Michigan.

“For me, that was kind of like a toe in the water in between then and now. But I’m really excited to rely on the memories of that, but those great memories also make me super excited about making my return at Daytona.”

With IndyCar coverage moving to FOX in 2025, Diffey is optimistic he will be calling NASCAR races next year and beyond.

“Given the fact that IndyCar is moving to a new home, that certainly opens up the opportunity for me to do more NASCAR,” Diffey said. “And, obviously, in collaboration with Supercross and IMSA and the other properties that I work on at the network, I think it looks optimistic for the future, for sure.”