NASCAR producer Kaleb Combs excited for racing's return
The NASCAR 2020 season was paused on March 15, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This stoppage of racing impacted the drivers, fans and other personnel of the sport in many ways. For NASCAR producer Kaleb Combs, NASCAR is something he has always looked forward to and loved to have in his life.
“Whether it is the sounds of the engines on race day, the fans, the passion, the drivers, all of the crew members you see hard at work in the garages, it is like a family,” Combs said. “I love to see it on my television Friday through Sunday, and all of the people, the people are what makes the sport what it is.”
Combs is a live events producer for NASCAR on FOX Sports. He also produces the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) Racing Series and the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series. It is safe to say that as a producer for one of the world’s fastest sports, he must work at full speed to make the broadcast run smoothly for the people watching at home.
“I sit in the control room with our team and put a show together,” Combs said. “The director and I are the ones in charge of what you see at home on the television during the race broadcast ... It is all pretty crazy, and we work together at about 90 miles per hour, without stopping.”
“Something that helps is the amount of preparation that goes into it. But once you sit down in that control room you have about 15 people talking in your ear ... whether that is the talent, the announcers you see on screen, the graphic and replay people. I like to sum it all up as controlled chaos.”
Combs grew up in North Carolina, the home of many NASCAR drivers and teams. He was always a NASCAR fan and had rooted for the four-time cup series champion Jeff Gordon before he retired from racing. Now, he gets the opportunity to work with Gordon every race day.
“I really do find that funny because I grew up cheering [Gordon] in the #24 car, and now he is a co-worker of mine,” Combs said. “We work together on a daily basis and to be quite honest I was actually relieved when retired, because I wasn’t so stressed out on Sundays anymore.
“With my job I need to be impartial, so to be able to watch the races and put together these broadcasts without a favorite driver has been helpful. I can definitely enjoy all of the racing a bit more.”
The 2020 season has been a tough one for all sports across the world including NASCAR. It has impacted Combs and his family in many ways as well during this time where steps and precautions change every single day.
“It has really been a huge adjustment for me and my family, to be adapting to the conditions we are now living in,” Combs said. “With my job I am usually traveling a lot and it had been different to be at home now more than ever during the season. Everyone is trying to make the most of it.”
Being home more often is not the only thing that has changed for Combs and many NASCAR employees. From March 22 up until May 17, when NASCAR retuned to the tracks, the drivers had been racing virtually. They did so through iRacing, a virtual competitive racing platform that uses online simulations.
“I had helped produce the iRacing broadcasts that were put together during these times,” Combs said. “Although my role was not the same as it would be on a normal race day, I was one of the people who communicated with Clint Bowyer, Jeff Gordan when he raced in a few virtual races, or with NASCAR commentator and longtime crew chief Larry McReynolds. So, they would have a good understanding of what the producer would want from them for the show.”
With COVID-19 shutting down sports, NASCAR was truly the one sport that had content that was able be put out weekly, even sometimes daily. The iRacing series had the sixth-highest e-gaming views of all time.
The work that Combs and all the people who work for NASCAR have done has provided not only NASCAR fans but sports fans with some entertainment while the world is at home.
“It has been absolutely incredible for our sport and our country,” Combs said. “Seeing racing is one thing, but to have the ability to keep going like we have has been phenomenal.”
“NASCAR has been the only sport during that time able to keep producing content and pro-invitational races every week ... While it is not the real thing and everyone knows that, it at least was able to give fans the outlet to have something to look forward to during these tough times.”
NASCAR has since returned to racing, without fans in the stands that is. May 17 was the first race back at Darlington Raceway. To be one of the first sports back in action is definitely special for Combs and all of the other NASCAR drivers and personnel, even though the racing is not the same without fans.
“I think it is huge,” Combs said. “NASCAR has a really great plan in place to keep working with local governments and to follow the guidelines necessary to be back at the tracks in a healthy way, to make it as safe as possible for the drivers and their teams.”
“I hope that this will be one of the first major dominoes that falls in the sports world in making our life feel back to normal again. Without the in person contact like other sports have, NASCAR is fortunate enough to be able to come back sooner. I think that ratings will be through the roof because of this. For people out there who may not watch NASCAR on a regular basis, now is their time to see what NASCAR is all about.”
Whether you are a NASCAR fan or not, it is great to see sports back in our lives.
Photo courtesy of Kaleb Combs on Twitter
