Krista Voda: Meet the New NBC Kentucky Derby Host

There will be a new face on this year’s NBC coverage of the Kentucky Derby.

Krista Voda, who has been covering NASCAR on network television for 16 seasons but made her NBC horse racing debut last month during the company’s coverage of the Santa Anita Derby, will join the team as the host for Derby coverage all weekend.

“It definitely feels like a homecoming for me, as horse racing is what I covered early in my career in Lexington,” said Voda. “People may not think that thoroughbreds and stock cars go together, but there are similarities in the preparation and the loyalty of the fanbases that follow each sport. I can’t wait to get back to Churchill Downs during the first week in May.”

Voda, 42, attended the University of Northern Iowa, where she earned her degree in Broadcast Journalism and Business Communications. In 1998, she joined WLEX, a Lexington, Kentucky, station, as the weekend sports anchor, and a couple years years later she was hired by Fox Sports Net as a reporter for Totally NASCAR.

She has been around the sport of auto racing ever since, working with Fox for more than a decade before eventually making her way over to NBC prior to the 2015 season. The NASCAR on NBC host’s resume is littered with accolades, as she was the first female to ever host the Daytona Duels, and she has been a part of every NASCAR Hall of Fame induction ceremony since it began in 2010.

In addition to her extensive work in the sport of auto racing, Voda has also covered horse racing, NFL, MLB, college football, college basketball and the PGA Tour.

In her personal life, Voda married Phillip Kelley–who also works in sports television–in 2010. Together, they have a daughter, Emmy, who was born in August of 2013.

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