NASCAR Determined to Promote “Emerging Superstars” After Netflix Series Boom

The success of Drive to Survive led to a surge in Formula 1 viewership in the United States. Perhaps with that in mind, NASCAR too landed its own five-part Netflix docuseries in late January. But the impact it made on the racing community may be coming into focus only now. For starters, NASCAR has witnessed a significant increase in viewership for the first four races to start the season, excluding the first two, which were hampered due to the weather. In fact, the last two races at Phoenix and Bristol saw a respective 19 percent and an 11 percent year-over-year increase in total viewership.

But that’s not the only thing that “NASCAR: Full Speed” did. According to a report by Nielsen, 88 percent of viewers who watched the series throughout the first week of its debut did not watch last year’s Championship 4. This means, these people could potentially be new fans.

Steve O’Donnell, Chief Operating Officer at NASCAR, feels that it’s important for the organization to promote the drivers who have appeared in “Full Speed” and get them under the limelight. “We’ve got a bunch of emerging superstars,” O’Donnell said. “It’s our job to really go out there now and promote those drivers and make them more household names. And if we can do that, I think the sport will continue to grow.”

However, O’Donnell realizes that it’s too early to celebrate. For now, NASCAR has decided to keep building on the initial success that “NASCAR: Full Speed” has found.

Ryan Vargas echoed O’Donnell’s words, and gave his friends the “superstar status”

NASCAR driver Ryan Vargas feels like the “superstar status” should go to his friends in the Cup Series like Bubba Wallace and the reigning Cup Series champion, Ryan Blaney. And that’s exactly what he said during an exclusive interview with The Sportsrush.

He feels like Wallace and Blaney have the personality and talent to attain the status of superstars in NASCAR. “They have the wins. They have the stats to back it up. So becoming fans of them is definitely going to be what will push them into superstar status,” he admitted.

Vargas is also optimistic about how internationally inclusive NASCAR has gotten in recent years. Touching upon Shane van Gisbergen’s expertise in the world of Australian Supercars, the Chevy driver explained that Gisbergen has added to the attention of motorsport enthusiasts in the USA.

Besides that, he also mentioned the names of social media savvies like Hailie Deegan and Rajah Caruth, who have a voice on social platforms and hence, cater to the promotion of individual drivers and also of the sport as a whole.