Fox announced Sunday during the Daytona 500 broadcast that it’s reviving the SPEED name as a weekly video podcast called SPEED with Harvick and Buxton, hosted by NASCAR analyst Kevin Harvick and IndyCar play-by-play voice Will Buxton. The show debuts Feb. 23 and will release two episodes per week across FOX One and the digital and social channels for Fox Sports, NASCAR, and IndyCar.
Harvick is a former NASCAR Cup Series champion who retired after the 2023 season and has been an analyst on Fox Sports since 2024. He also hosts the Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast, one of the more popular shows in the motorsports space. Buxton is the play-by-play voice for IndyCar on Fox, a veteran F1 broadcaster, and appeared in the Brad Pitt F1 film last year.
The SPEED name carries some personal history for Buxton specifically. He got his first on-screen television break at the original SPEED Channel 16 years ago, and noted as much when the announcement dropped Sunday.
“16 years ago, SPEED gave me my first break on screen,” Buxton wrote on X Sunday. “Beyond proud to be bringing back a name that means so much to the racing community with my friend Kevin Harvick. Your weekly dose of racing news and debate. If it’s got a motor in it, we’ll talk about it.”
SPEED originally launched in 1995 as Speedvision and ran for 18 years as a 24-hour motorsports and automotive cable channel. If it had a motor, SPEED covered it, whether it was NASCAR, F1, drag racing, motorcycles, sports cars, or car culture. On Aug. 17, 2013, Fox flipped the switch and SPEED became FS1. Mike Joy, who called NASCAR races on SPEED — still does on Fox today — gave a sign-off that became something of a eulogy for the channel.
“We love that you care as much about your cars as family, God, and country, and so do we,” Joy said. “But now, it’s time to switch off the ignition and turn in the keys. This is the end of Speed in America. We hope you’ll follow us on our new journey to Fox Sports 1.”
The backlash was substantial enough that Awful Announcing ran three separate installments — Part I, Part II, and Part III — collecting reader comments from fans who felt the rug had been pulled out from under them. Since then, Motorsports fans have spent years trying to fill the hole SPEED left. In 2023, the original founder of Speedvision even got involved in launching a new FAST channel, SPEED SPORT 1, specifically to try to resurrect what had been lost.
Fox bringing the name back — even just for a show — is at least an acknowledgment that the brand still means something to gearheads.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.