What Happened to Rick Allen From NASCAR? Someone New Is Calling Races

For over a decade, sportscaster Rick Allen has been the voice of the NASCAR Cup Series, calling races for loyal fans.

But since the end of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Rick's voice hasn't be heard as much. What happened?

Here's what we know about why Rick isn't calling all the races, who is replacing him and why, and what role Rick will have with NASCAR moving forward.

Anyone watching the NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series on NBC is used to hearing announcer Rick Allen's deep, exuberant voice calling the action.

Change is hard — but it seems we are going to have to get used to a new voice calling the races.

That's because Rick is stepping aside post-Olympics coverage, with Australian American Leigh Diffey taking over for him for the Cup Series.

We'll still get to hear Rick call the Xfinity Series through 2024, per Sports Business Journal even though the series is moving to the CW Network in 2025.

Rick once explained he had "a unique path" to NASCAR, but he's gotten to do what he loves for over 18 years.

So, will Rick return to the booth, or is this goodbye for good? For now, we don't know what the future holds for Rick. He hasn't offered an update via his social media accounts, but we'll be hoping to hear his voice more soon.

Meanwhile, fans are definitely feeling his absence, and some took to social media to share their favorite Rick Allen calls from his many years calling races for NASCAR.

For those who are questioning Leigh as Rick's replacement, the longtime sportscaster explained to Dirty Mo Media in August 2024 that he has the utmost respect for fans of the wildly popular sport, and does meticulous research in homage to them.

"There's not a single broadcaster on the planet who is going to please everybody," he still acknowledged.

If you recognize Leigh's name or voice, there's a reason, by the way. He called many events in the Olympics, with one notable mistake that made headlines and most certainly caught fans' attention.

It was a close race for the men sprinting toward gold in the 100 meters, but Leigh made the wrong call, bellowing at the heated finish, "Jamaica's gonna do it, Kishane Thompson is a gold medalist, on debut."

Ultimately American Noah Lyles had won.

Leigh later took to X to offer a mea culpa to fans and the victor, tweeting, "The men’s 100 was epic and [the] closest of all time! My eyes and instinct told me Kishane Thompson won. Obviously, that wasn’t the case. I shouldn’t have been so bold to call it, but I genuinely thought he won. I got it wrong. I am thrilled for @LylesNoah as his story only gets bigger!"