Major Blow for Chase Elliott & Kyle Busch’s NASCAR Fans

Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch are two of NASCAR’s most-followed drivers. And yet, their Most Popular Driver awards and racing feats haven’t been enough for Netflix to cover them in its new NASCAR docuseries ‘Full Speed’. Despite NASCAR announcing that the show would cover the 2023 postseason, the list of “featured drivers” that Netflix has given out does not have the names of Elliott and Busch.

Along with being a 2x Cup champion and a NASCAR household name for years, Busch was also a part of last season’s playoff until he was knocked in the Round of 12. Though Elliott did not make it to the playoffs, his journey of recovery could have been an interesting side story for fans.

Ross Chastain and Bubba Wallace are two drivers who were knocked out of the competition along with Busch.

It is rather surprising that their journeys have been covered, but Busch’s maiden season with Richard Childress Racing did not make the cut. Fans of Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch will be left disappointed with the exclusion of their stars, but the show is set to feature other notable playoff participants including Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Larson.

Kyle Busch’s one pending wish and the mixed outlook on Full Speed

For Busch, one wish remains to become a reality. He already had a documentary ‘Rowdy’ covering his life up to his 2015 championship released in 2022. Though the 2x champion was glad with his foray into entertainment, he wished that the documentary had done more to get people to understand him. He said, “There’s definitely some elements that got left out; that just timing, just wasn’t enough time to show that. I wish we had an opportunity to do something more.”

Featuring on the Netflix show could have gone some way in appeasing Busch’s desire, but it will have to be left hungry for a little while more.

Though Full Speed is expected to give NASCAR a big advantage in increasing viewership, thoughts on it are mixed from the Cup Series grid. Former champion Joey Logano said, “Watch what you say and watch what you do because they can use it. And they can edit it in a way that can make you look completely different than the actual situation that was happening.”

Ross Chastain is on the other side of the spectrum from Logano. In the wake of the Full Speed trailer release, he wrote on X, “I am looking forward to seeing the final product. I think the fans will really enjoy it and I am excited how many new fans we will reach on @netflix.”

Fans won’t have to wait long to see if Netflix will stir up fresh controversies like it did with Formula One through Drive to Survive. The production houses released a trailer for Full Speed on Wednesday and confirmed that it would premiere on the platform on January 30.