Shannon Spake hadn’t worked the NASCAR pit road since May 2013. So when she walked back out there Sunday at Sonoma, for Round One of the 2026 In-Season Challenge, it knocked her sideways a little.
“Yesterday was my first time working pit road since May 2013 and it was incredible,” she wrote on X. “I hugged people I haven’t seen in more than a decade, smiled and laughed so much with my team.”
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And it was Shane van Gisbergen who won the Toyota/Save Mart 350 on June 28, his third straight road-course victory, meaning Spake’s first pit road assignment in over a decade landed her trackside for a burnout from one of the hottest drivers in the sport right now.
“So close to SVG’s badass burnout!” she added.
Spake’s been around NASCAR for 20-plus years now. She started in 2005 at the SPEED Channel, reporting for NASCAR Nation before moving into co-hosting Back Seat Drivers with Marty Smith.
Then ESPN scooped her up in 2007 and threw her straight into pit road duty, full-time, live, no training wheels. That’s a young reporter sticking a mic in front of Tony Stewart or Kevin Harvick seconds after they climb out of a wrecked car. But she never shied away from the job, and it made her one of the most trusted voices in the garage through a decade at ESPN and another long stretch at FOX.
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Then July 2024 happened. FOX cut NASCAR Race Hub, the show she anchored, as part of a bigger pullback: fewer Cup races, no more Xfinity rights. Her NFL sideline gig got squeezed out, too, once Tom Brady landed in FOX’s top broadcast booth and forced a shakeup down the depth chart.
The timing made it worse. TNT and Amazon weren’t picking up their NASCAR broadcasts until the following summer, so there wasn’t even a landing spot waiting for her. She didn’t disappear from the sport, though. Spake moved to NASCAR Digital Media and TNT Sports almost immediately and hosted NASCAR Inside the Playoffs that same year alongside analysts Jamie McMurray and Parker Kligerman.
So, what’s actually new for 2026 is a seat change. Marty Smith has taken over hosting NASCAR Nation this year, and Spake has moved to pit road with Marty Snider and Danielle Trotta (the exact role she hadn’t held since 2013).
Jimmie Johnson joins the broadcast as a studio analyst for three of the five races (Sonoma, North Wilkesboro, and the Indianapolis finale), with Jeff Burton filling in for the other two (Chicagoland and Atlanta). The booth itself stays unchanged, with Dale Earnhardt Jr., Steve Letarte, and Adam Alexander calling all five races.
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Spake’s new pit road assignment covers the full In-Season Challenge: a 32-driver, single-elimination bracket worth $1 million, run across Sonoma, Chicagoland, EchoPark in Atlanta, North Wilkesboro, and the championship round at Indianapolis on July 26.
“I have a lot of memories from working the pits while at ESPN. Pregnancy, championships, rain delays, crazy battles, and so much more, but the thing I appreciate the most is the people,” she further wrote. “I’m so blessed to have been a part of NASCAR for more than 20 years.”
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The post “I’m So Blessed”- Female Broadcaster Details Emotional NASCAR Pit Road Return After Hiatus appeared first on EssentiallySports. Add EssentiallySports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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