The credit for the creation of the wheel is not precisely known, but it is believed the ancient Sumerians were responsible. It is thought the first wheels were used for pottery, then utilized for carts and wagons later on. Fast forward to Sunday’s Cup race in Phoenix, and the updated wheel, in this case known as tires, were a great influence on the outcome of the race and the Chase standings. Tyler Reddick can thank the Sumerians for their circular invention, and the people who watched the race from home can thank the sponsors for being able to see the broadcast. For those folks who would like to know precisely how many ads there were, and how much time they took during the broadcast, here is this week’s breakdown.
Race and Commercial Breakdown of the 2026 Freeway Insurance 500
Start time to record race/commercial periods: 2:48 PM
End time to record race/commercial periods: 6:08 PM
Total minutes of complete race broadcast: 200
Minutes of race broadcast: 178
Minutes of traditional commercials: 22
Minutes of side-by-side commercials: 24
Total number of commercials: 107
Total number of companies or entities advertised: 63
Total number of traditional commercials (not split-screen): 52
Total number of companies or entities advertised: 48
Total number of ‘Side-by-Side’ commercials during the broadcast (split-screen): 55
Total number of companies or entities advertised: 36
Number of times USA utilized ‘Side-by-Side’ commercials during the broadcast: 11
Companies seen the most in commercials during this broadcast: Xfinity (6 times); Sonic (6 times); NASCAR (5 times); Toyota (5 times)
Breakdown of what the commercials were, by category:
NBC/USA TV Previews/Promos:
‘Catfish Murders’ on Oxygen oxygen.com/catfish-murders – 2
Upcoming Cup race on USA Coca-Cola, Xfinity, Busch Light, Freeway Insurance – 1
NFL Red Zone – 1
WNBA on USA – 1
AMC/AMC + amc.com – 1
‘The Golden Life’ on E! eonline.com/shows/the_golden_life – 1
MS Now – 1
‘911’ on USA usanetwork.com/9-1-1 – 1
‘Snapped’ on Oxygen oxygen.com/snapped – 1
Total: 10
Local News/Sports/Points-of-Interest in Penna.
Lincoln Crossings Dental Care lincolncrossingsdentalcare.com – 1
Total: 1
Restaurants/Food
Sonic sonicdrivein.com – 3
Chipotle chipotle.com – 1
Golden Corral goldencorral.com/ – 1
Hidden Valley Ranch hiddenvalley.com – 1
Monster Energy monsterenergy.com – 1
Subway Subway.com – 1
Tovala.com – 1
Total: 9
Beer/Alcohol
Busch Light busch.com – 1
Twisted Tea twistedtea.com – 1
Total: 2
Car/Truck/Bike
Shell shell.com/us-en/ – 2
Toyota toyota.com – 2
Chevy chevy.com – 1
GMCDealer.com gmcdealer.com – 1
GoodYear goodyear.com – 1
Safe Lite safelite.com – 1
Valvoline valvoline.com – 1
Total: 9
Insurance/Health
Freeway Insurance freeway.com – 2
Elton John AIDS Foundation eltonjohnaidsfoundation.org – 1
St Judes Childrens Hospital stjude.org – 1
Wounded Warrior Project woundedwarriorproject.org – 1
Total: 5
Wireless Phone
Mint Mobile mintmobile.com – 1
StraightTalk.com straighttalk.com – 1
Verizon verizon.com – 1
Xfinity Mobile xfinitymobile.com – 1
Total: 4
Financial
Ally Bank allybank.com – 1
Total: 1
Technology
DraftKings.com draftkings.com – 1
Fandango.com – 1
GolfNow.com – 1
Power Ball powerball.com – 1
StarLink starlink.com – 1
Total: 5
Products/Services for the Home and Personal Use
Tecovas Boots tecovas.com – 2
Vabysmo vabysmo.com – 2
Trelegy trelegy.com – 1
Turtle Box turtleboxaudio.com – 1
Total: 6
Race brdcast times: // Comm. brdcast times:
2:48 PM – 2:52 PM – 4 // 2:52 PM – 2:55 PM – 3
2:55 PM – 2:58 PM – 3 // 2:58 PM – 3:00 PM – 2
3:00 PM – 3:30 PM – 30 // 3:30 PM – 3:32 PM – 2
3:32 PM – 3:40 PM – 8 // 3:40 PM – 3:43 PM – 3
3:43 PM – 3:45 PM – 2 // 3:45 PM – 3:47 PM – 2
3:47 PM – 4:35 PM – 48 // 4:35 PM – 4:38 PM – 3
4:38 PM – 4:50 PM – 12 // 4:50 PM – 4:53 PM – 3
4:53 PM – 4:56 PM – 3 // 4:56 PM – 4:57 PM – 1
4:57 PM – 5:17 PM – 20 // 5:17 PM – 5:20 PM – 3
5:20 PM – 5:51 PM – 31 // 5:51 PM – 5:51 PM –
5:51 PM – 6:08 PM – 17 // 6:08 PM – checkered flag
Total race brdcst time: 178 // Total comm. brdcst time: 22
Number of companies featured during broadcast: 23
(Freeway Insurance; St Judes Children’s Hospital stjude.org ; Sonic; Hunt Bros Pizza; Coca-Cola; Busch Light; Toyota; POET; Sunoco; Valvoline RestoreandProtect.com ; Safelite; Progressive; BuildSubmarines.com ; DraftKings.com ; Starlink; Credit One Bank; Ally Bank; Xfinity; T-Mobile; WNBA on USA; Soccer on USA; College Football on USA; NASCAR 2026; Upcoming Cup race)
Commercials during race broadcast: ‘Side-by-Side’ (‘Thank you!’ to all of the participating sponsors!)
3:14 PM – 3:16 PM
Toyota; Breztri; Mint Mobile; Progressive; ‘The Rainmaker’ on USA
3:23 PM – 3:25 PM
Ally Bank; Arby’s; Xfinity; Ram Trucks; Golden Corral; Golf Now
3:58 PM – 4:00 PM
AT&T; Toyota; Subway; Safelite; O’Reilly Auto Parts race on CW
4:07 PM – 4:10 PM
DraftKings.com; Twisted Tea; Sonic; Mint Mobile; Ram Trucks; NASCAR.com/SwearJar
4:20 PM – 4:23 PM
Bank of America; Toyota; Arby’s; Valvoline; Kioti; ‘The Rainmaker’ on USA
4:29 PM – 4:31 PM
WT.com ; Sonic; Progressive; Xfinity; Golden Corral; WNBA on USA
4:44 PM – 4:46 PM
Coke Zero Sugar; T-Mobile; Toyota; Daytona500.com
5:07 PM – 5:09 PM
Ram Trucks; Sonic; Consumer Cellular; Subway; Upcoming Cup race, Coca-Cola, Busch Light, Freeway Insurance , Xfinity
5:28 PM – 5:30 PM
GoodYear; Golden Corral; Ally Bank; Arby’s; WNBA on USA
5:36 PM – 5:38 PM
Xfinity; Breztri; Starlink
5:46 PM – 5:48 PM
Progressive; Arby’s; Ram Trucks; Straight Talk