Rick Allen reflects on ‘crushing’ NASCAR on NBC exit

Last year, Rick Allen was demoted to the NASCAR Xfinity Series booth on NBC for the last eight weeks of the season. His contract wasn’t renewed. Instead, Leigh Diffey took over his duties at NBC for the Cup Series.

Rick Allen spent years at FOX announcing Truck Series and ARCA races on SPEED and then FS1. Starting in 2014, he was added to the Cup Series and Xfinity Series booth at NBC. That all changed last year.

Speaking to Dale Earnhardt Jr., who departed NBC prior to its slate of races in 2024, on the Dale Jr. Download, Allen recalled his own exit from the company. He knew about it back in January of 2024.

“I found out about that the day before the Hall of Fame [ceremony in 2024]. At that time, they said, they didn’t know exactly how many races, but they were going to have Diffey do the last however many races,” Allen said to Earnhardt. “And I didn’t understand that. I guess I didn’t know why that would be the way you would transition somebody in and me out. And it was scary, and it was weird.”

Rick Allen couldn’t believe it was happening. He had lost his gig of over 10 years where he was the lead announcer at NBC for the NASCAR Cup Series. The highest level of motorsports in the United States.

“I was crushed when that news hit me. It was kind of like, ‘What am I going to do now if my friends aren’t, if I don’t get to hang out with my friends?’ Do my friends go away? How does this affect my life? So, that was a crushing blow.”

Rick Allen was pushed to Xfinity Series on The CW

Rick Allen would actually close his time at NBC by announcing Xfinity Series races on The CW. It was a strange way to not only change announcers but to also change into a new media rights deal.

While Amazon Prime Video and TNT Sports hired a number of personalities for the 2025 season, Allen remains out of the sport. The CW has been nothing but good for the Xfinity Series. Leigh Diffey was electric last season on NBC. Still, it feels like something wrong happened in this situation.

During his career, Allen has delivered a number of great races from the booth. He is nothing but professional and has that old-school broadcasting voice. His work speaks for itself. Still, there was something added to NBC when Diffey made his way to the booth.

There are so many talented people in NASCAR. That applies to on the track and in the broadcast booth. Hopefully, it isn’t long until Rick Allen is calling finishes to NASCAR races again.