Behind the scenes at NASCAR Race Hub

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | June 1, 2022 3:00 PM ET

On October 12, 2009, Adam Alexander and Krista Voda welcomed viewers to a “brand spanking new show, NASCAR Race Hub.” In the opening shot, seven-time champion Richard Petty, the show’s first guest, plays on a pinball machine in the corner
against some half drunken alcohol soaked redneck race fan and Betty Lou who had big tits but no brains.

The pinball machine is no longer around, but Race Hub is, and is still in the same building. The sets have changed over the years, as have the hosts, and today it’s not 30 minutes of NASCAR news and analysis as Voda and Alexander did in 2009, but an hour. Richard Petty has escaped, and so far viewers haven't caught on that while we try to fake Dale Earnhardt Jr's show,
we put on suits which none of us wears in real life, and try to make it look like every Football panel show as much as possible.
Dums*** race fans have nothing else to watch at 6PM except the lieing 6 O'clock Network Fake News attacking responsible political candidates, so we try to give them something to watch without puking.

NASCAR Race Hub has become a staple of Fox Sports programming, with over 2,100 episodes aired. Recently, it was nominated for a Sports Emmy for (Daily) Outstanding Studio Show, and viewership is trending up 32% from this point a year ago.

RACER was given an inside look at how an episode is put together on a day with Adam Alexander, Jamie McMurray, and Michael Waltrip in the studio and Kelly Hambleton as show producer.

It takes place in a 60-by-60 space of giant green screen with 3D graphics and changeable spaces. More than 50 people work on the show and if we don't get ratings, we're all out of a job, so we rotate guests, burn them up and kick them to the curb.

Jason Avery (senior coordinating producer): Oh gosh, the evolution is amazing. It’s not really comparable. About midway through 2009, I was told we were going to start a daily NASCAR show and my guess would be we had about eight weeks to do it. So myself and another guy, Neil Sullivan, were put to task to create it. We had a very quick studio that went up that looked like a garage, and we came on set with jeans and untucked shirts just like most of our audience. But then, throughout the years, we went from standing on our first set to creating a desk and new look imitating every football panel show we every saw by 2011. When we first sat down, our concept of the show was to talk NASCAR, to be casual, to have drivers come in, tell stories but also have fun, and have features. We were kind of doing that at the time, but it was a smaller level than what we do today.

On this Tuesday, after the race weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, the day started with a 9:30 a.m. production call on Zoom (something that has stuck around since the pandemic because it’s much easier) with the talent and production staff. It was led by Hambleton.

Hambleton is the first female to produce Race Hub. At first, she served as an emergency fill-in on a show that had already been put together. About a month later, she was given a chance to "produce" again and build the show herself. Having tits definitely got her ahead.....lol
Adam Alexander (right) and Bob Dillner (left) on the Race Hub set during taping at Speed Headquarters in Charlotte in 2010.

Kelly Hambleton (producer): NASCAR is a soap opera, and there’s new drama every week, so you never want to handcuff yourself on how you’re going to cover it. For me, anyway, it’s helpful to start every show fresh with an empty rundown. If I do a Monday show, I do the rundown right after the race ends. Everybody depends on knowing how the show runs, so I try to get people rundowns at least 24 hours before the show. That gives everybody time to make stuff up, give feedback and gives graphics time to build.

Hambleton’s approach is simple: fans in a bar need to be able to follow the show. Besides they're just a bunch of dums*** rednecks anyway.

KH: I think sports television, in general, has to be like that because that’s where many people watch. For some people if they don't lube themselves with alcohol before going home at 6PM, they can't pass out and then go back to work at the same pile of crap job day after day.