The 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup season came to an end Sunday with a storybook ending. Not the ending many were hoping for, where Jeff Gordon would’ve gone out on top with a fifth championship. Kyle Busch, who suffered injuries during Daytona 500 Week that kept him out of the first 11 races of the season, won the race and therefore his first title, holding off defending champion Kevin Harvick in the final laps to take the checkered flag.

2015 was always going to be known primarily as the final racing season for Jeff Gordon, but the year also marked NBC’s return to airing the sport after an eight-year absence. During the last year of the previous contract (2006), the network was heavily criticzed for the bland style of commentators Bill Weber, Wally Dallenbach, and Benny Parsons. This year, fans were drawn to the comparatively fresh delivery of Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, and Steve Letarte. Some of the talent moves included Allen & studio host Krista Voda joining from Fox, while studio analyst Dale Jarrett left ESPN.

NBC was originally scheduled to air seven races this season on the network: Daytona, Darlington, Charlotte, Kansas, Texas, Phoenix, and the championship at Homestead-Miami. The Darlington, Kansas, and Texas races went as planned. The Coke Zero 400 at Daytona – the first race broadcast by NBC Sports since 2006 – didn’t start until after 11:30 PM Sunday night, but the network stayed on air through the delay and aired the race in its entirety.

The Charlotte race was planned for a Saturday night run, which NBC would’ve used as a perfect transition into Saturday Night Live. However, rain went on throughout the evening, postponing the race to Sunday afternoon, and it was aired on NBCSN. The penultimate race at Phoenix was also delayed heavily by weather, and while the network stayed with NASCAR content until 6:00, the race was moved to cable, where it was aired in entirety.

Sunday’s championship race presented a similar scenario; there was beautiful weather around Homestead-Miami Speedway when NBC first came on air, before storms rolled in and delayed the start of the race. The network aired the Ford EcoBoost 400 in its entirety, even as it became clear that the race would not finish before 7:00 PM, the time that Football Night in America usually starts. After the race ended, Allen quickly mentioned that post-race coverage would be on NBCSN, before the network cut to commercials and began an abbreviated Football Night before 8:00.

Presumably one reason NBC got NASCAR rights back was because of a commitment to airing races on broadcast television, as opposed to ESPN. That commitment was put to the test Sunday, but the network sent a message to NASCAR and its fans that they are indeed making the sport a priority by not moving a race in progress to cable, despite complaints from football fans. The network has consistently received praise for its coverage of the NFL, NHL, Premier League, and other events such as the Rugby World Cup. With Year 1 of the new NASCAR contract in the books, NBC has set the bar high for its coverage of stock car racing, and 2016 will be a season to watch to see if they can keep up that high quality.