With the NASCAR All-Star Race at Dover and the FOX Sports portion of the broadcast schedule in the rearview mirror, Prime Video is preparing to kick off its highly anticipated second year of NASCAR Cup Series coverage.
The Amazon-owned streaming platform will be the exclusive home for the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day Weekend and continue broadcasting events at Nashville (May 31), Michigan (June 7), Pocono (June 14), and Naval Base Coronado (June 21).
As far as on-air talent is concerned, things are going to look pretty similar to Prime’s debut campaign in 2025, with Adam Alexander, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and Steve Letarte calling the race in the booth, and both Danielle Trotta and Corey LaJoie working the pre- and post-race desk.
While the main cast is entirely the same (barring the scaling back of on-track presence for Carl Edwards), the situation is just slightly different from what it was last season for one member, Corey LaJoie. A long-time NASCAR Cup Series veteran, LaJoie is racing full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for Kaulig Racing — taking over the No. 10 RAM 1500 after Daniel Dye resigned from the team after three races.
During four of the five weeks that Prime Video is on-air with its NASCAR Cup Series coverage, LaJoie will be pulling a unique type of double-duty, running in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series on Friday (or Saturday) and turning in the helmet for a microphone on Sundays.
In a media availability ahead of Prime Video’s first race this weekend at Charlotte, LaJoie told JosephSrigley.com that his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule won’t really interfere with his preparation for covering NASCAR Cup Series events on Sunday.
“I feel like with the ease of the Truck Series schedule, being a one-day show on Fridays, it’s kind of like I’ve picked up a pickleball hobby,” LaJoie said. “I literally leave my house at 8:00 AM, and I’m back in my bed by about 8:30 PM on a Friday, so the cost of time isn’t very much with that Truck [Series] deal, with no sim. The flexibility to do everything I need to prepare for our Saturday walkthrough — I don’t believe the pre- and post-desk is doing any practice and qualifying appearances this year, so we’ll be locked in on Sunday. It’ll give me time on Saturday to just try to walk around the garage and try to get a feel of what’s happening, but also, I think it’s still fun to be a competitor.”
LaJoie specifically mentions the benefits of being on track in Friday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at Naval Base Coronado, seeing as he’ll be in a unique position of providing insight to fans watching Sunday’s Anduril 250 on Sunday, June 21 — the final of five events on Prime’s broadcast schedule.
“San Diego is the one that, even before the Truck opportunity came about, I had circled to try and find something for Friday, but all of that worked out how it did,” LaJoie added. “[…] I think San Diego’s an unknown for everybody, so to be able to put some eyes on that before anybody else really does, I think, is going to be super valuable.”
Without question, that additional track time will be invaluable for LaJoie and his analysis over the next five NASCAR Cup Series broadcasts, but Alex Strand, Senior Coordinating Producer for NASCAR on Prime, says it’s valuable for everybody on the broadcast team.
“We’ve got Corey [LaJoie], who, all those things he just said about the track, he’s going to be on track,” Strand said. “That’s like an analyst going and running routes at Lumen Field in Seattle before the game happens, and being able to tell us how the grass is bouncy, what it feels like in the sunlight at that. Being able to actually bring us closer to what’s actually happening on track is a critical part of our coverage, and Corey is able to bring that to us. In no other sport can that happen, so it’s a really unique thing and it’s a really neat thing for Corey to be able to do that.”
In a way, having a driver like Corey LaJoie on the broadcast team is a secret weapon, since he’s still active in NASCAR’s National Series and has an extensive amount of experience in NASCAR’s seventh-generation car, which has only been active in the NASCAR Cup Series for five years.
“We’re really deliberate in our meetings and our prep, as well, to go to Corey and say, ‘Corey, tell us what it’s like in the NextGen car, what’s it like when you’re doing practice and in that Truck race,”‘ Strand added. “He’s able to bring that perspective, which not only makes the presentation better, but makes everyone on the team better because he’s able to help us all in our own certain positions.”
LaJoie, in seven NASCAR Truck Series starts in 2026 (six for Kaulig, one for Henderson), has picked up a pair of top-10 finishes at Rockingham (seventh) and Dover (eighth), putting him 22nd in series point standings. Last year, in a nine-race schedule for Spire Motorsports, LaJoie picked up a trio of fifth-place finishes at Michigan, Richmond, and Martinsville.
NASCAR on Prime Video will begin its five-race NASCAR Cup Series coverage schedule this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway with the prestigious Coca-Cola 600. The event will go green on Sunday, May 24, at 6:00 PM ET.
Photo: Matt Marrie
