Kelli L. Stavast is an American
sportscaster who formerly worked for
NBC Sports as a pit reporter for both their
NASCAR (in both the
Cup and
Xfinity Series) and
IndyCar Series
The IndyCar Series, officially known as the NTT IndyCar Series for sponsorship reasons, is the highest class of American open-wheel car racing in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies sinc ...
coverage. She has reported for numerous other forms of motorsports throughout her career, as well as
diving at the
2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...
in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
and
freestyle skiing at the
2018 Winter Olympics in
Pyongchang.
Early life and education
Stavast was raised in Denver, Colorado.
She attended
Chapman University where she graduated in 2002 with a broadcast journalism degree.
Career
In 2015, Stavast joined NBC's returning
NASCAR coverage as a pit reporter. She was announced to be joining the broadcast team on January 22, 2014, along with Marty Snider. They would be joined by
Dave Burns and
Mike Massaro (announced later in the year) as NBC's four pit reporters for the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series. Stavast was the only original member of the NBC broadcast team hired without prior experience covering NASCAR, although she did report for other forms of motorsports for NBC,
Speed, and
ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
including the
Grand-Am,
American Le Mans Series (and those two series when they merged to become
IMSA),
Stadium Super Truck Series, and
Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series.
She was also a reporter for NBC coverage of diving at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, as well as freestyle skiing at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyongchang.
Stavast interviewed skier
Madison Olsen.
On October 2, 2021, Stavast interviewed
Brandon Brown after his victory at the
Xfinity Series'
Sparks 300, while the crowd was chanting "Fuck Joe Biden" in the background.
During the interview, Stavast misquoted the chant as, "
Let's Go Brandon". It is unclear whether she legitimately misheard the chant or whether she intentionally misquoted it.
After footage of the interview went
viral, the phrase "Let's Go Brandon" became a
political slogan and a
meme to mock president
Joe Biden as a
minced oath.
It was Stavast's last race with NBC Sports, who did not retain her for later broadcasts and quietly removed her from the staff directory. ''
Racer'' writer Kelly Crandall noted in late 2023 that Stavast "has been quiet" since the race.
Personal life
Stavast moved to Las Vegas in 2016 to be with her fiancé Gavin Kelly, who is also an American sportscaster covering NASCAR and IndyCar Series. The couple were introduced to each other through
Kurt Busch, who is a close friend of Gavin's.
References
External links
Kelli Stavast NBC bio (NASCAR)Kelli Stavast NBC bio (Olympics)*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stavast, Kelli
1980 births
American television reporters and correspondents
American television sports announcers
Chapman University alumni
Living people
Motorsport announcers
NASCAR people
People from Colorado
People from Las Vegas