Getty Cars race during 2024 Daytona 500.
The Daytona 500 officially kicked off the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season with William Byron earning his first Harley J. Earl Trophy and ending a 10-year drought of Hendrick Motorsports winning The Great American Race. The season-opening event is always a big draw because it’s the sport’s Super Bowl, but this year’s edition had even more eyes tuning in due to the recent release of the Netflix docuseries, NASCAR: Full Speed.
With this increased attention, NASCAR had an opportunity to make a good first impression with many new fans. The overall racing product did just that. Unfortunately, those same people watching at home on television also experienced what has become a consistent fan complaint for years – commercials, and, more specifically, the large number of them included in the broadcast.
Daytona 500 Commercial Tracker:
Total Race Time: 3 Hours 27 Minutes
Total Commercial Breaks (Side-By-Side): 21 (5)
Total Commercials: 119
Total Time of Commercials: 49:55 (24.15% of broadcast)
Total Green-Flag Laps Missed on TV: 35
Company With Most Commercials: Busch (6)
After the 2023 race, which some jokingly referred to as the Commercial 500, I set out on a mission to see just how many commercials fans were subject to watch during the 200-lap event in 2024.
Here’s the breakdown:
- Total Time of Race (Green to Checkered): 3 Hours 27 Minutes
- Total Commercial Breaks (Side-By-Sides): 21 (5)
- Total Commercials: 119
- Total Time of Commercials: 49:55 (24.15% of race broadcast)
- Total Green-Flag Laps Missed by Viewing Audience: 35
- Company With Most Commercials: Busch (6), Coke (5)
Daytona 500 Commercials Start Early After Accident
The green flag officially waved on the 66th running of the 500 at 4:34 p.m. ET. Fans saw their first set of commercials just seven minutes into the race when there was an accident on Lap 5 involving multiple cars, including Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson, 2018 Daytona champ Austin Dillon, Harrison Burton, and rookie Carson Hocevar.
That first break included six ads, beginning with Corey LaJoie and his No. 7 Chili’s car, and also featured some of the mainstay partners in NASCAR, including Ford, Coke, and Walmart. It lasted for a total of two minutes and 30 seconds. Unsurprisingly, taking advantage of a break in the action, Fox threw in another break of commercials during the caution that included five spots and lasted for two minutes and 15 seconds.
The next set of ads was the first during green-flag action and started on Lap 18. The break featured a total of eight commercials that lasted two minutes and 45 seconds. More importantly, fans watching at home missed four laps of green-flag racing.
Fox aired three more green-flag commercial breaks during Stage 1. At the conclusion of that initial stage, fans had watched eight commercial breaks (one side-by-side), including a pair during the stage caution, for a total of 55 commercials that lasted 20 minutes and 25 seconds, and missed a total of 14 laps of green-flag racing.
Commercials Slow Down Later in Daytona 500
With no natural cautions in the second stage, the number of green-flag commercial breaks naturally increased. Fans saw a total of seven breaks (one side-by-side), including two during the stage intermission that featured a total of 37 commercials that aired for 16 minutes and 25 seconds. Fans missed 15 laps of green-flag racing.
In the final stage, fans expect the volume of commercials to decrease because the races are typically front-loaded with ads so the broadcast won’t miss any on-track action late in the race.
This year was similar with the final stage including six ad breaks (three side-by-side), including two for a pair of crashes late in the race. To Fox’s credit, the network held off going to a commercial break for several minutes during the first crash – the big one – that happened with eight laps to go and involved 18 cars.
In that last stage, the network aired a total of 27 commercials that ran for 13 minutes and five seconds. Fans missed the fewest number of green-flag laps during a stage at six.
For existing NASCAR fans, the Daytona 500 broadcast and its commercial load was nothing out of the ordinary. However, for those fans checking out the sport for the first time, especially those who have watched F1 in the past, the sheer volume of commercials had to be a shock to the system.
In the end, those newbies will remember a race that included plenty of action, commercials, and a controversial finish.
Welcome to NASCAR.