NASCAR On NBC - Daytona 500 and Pepsi 400 Coverage

Daytona 500 and Pepsi 400 Coverage

In addition to their coverage of the bulk of the second half of the season, as part of their contract NBC also had rights to the Daytona 500 in even numbered years. NBC aired the race in 2002, 2004, and 2006, with Fox airing the race in 2001, 2003, and 2005. The network that didn't air the 500 aired the Pepsi 400 in July instead. With the new television contract Fox gained exclusive rights to broadcast the Daytona 500 for eight years, with TNT picking up rights to the now-Coke Zero 400.

The start time for the Daytona 500 had progressively moved later into the day. In 2001, the start time was 1:15 p.m. In 2002, the start time was shifted back to 12:45 p.m. (because of the Winter Olympics on NBC), but in 2003, the start time was 1:01 p.m. (originally 1:28 p.m. but NASCAR tried to start the race before rain, which stopped the race prematurely) In 2004, the start time was 1:52 p.m., and the 2005 and 2006 races started at 2:45 p.m. while the 2007 race began at 3:30 p.m.