One of the many promotional tools that NASCAR is using in the modern day and age of the sport is reaching a newer fan base with the help of the popular streaming service Netflix. Just as it was the case for F1’s turnaround in the US market with their docuseries Drive to Survive, NASCAR: Full Speed aims to achieve something similar with the stock car racing market.
Advertisement
The first season of the docuseries that highlighted personalities in the sport, such as Denny Hamlin and William Byron, and focused on the 10-race long playoffs, NASCAR: Full Speed, will be returning for a second season this year.
Despite being released before the start of the 2024 season last year in January, this year’s release has yet to stream, with fans eagerly waiting to witness how the creative team has let loose during the 2024 season.
NASCAR’s Senior Vice President of Content, John Dahl, recently gave the reasoning behind the delayed release of the second season. Dahl cited editorial timelines for the series as one of the reasons for the May release this year, with the team having the luxury of extra time to edit and build storylines for season 2.
He also touched on how the month of May can be referred to as ‘peak racing season’ with the likes of the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 scheduled to run later this month, thus further driving interest in the series and the sport itself.
“I think it works really well for Netflix, and it works really well for us, quite honestly. This is peak season in terms of racing. May is a great month for racing. It just feels like the attention level we can get from people is really at a high,” elaborated Dahl.
He also drew comparisons to another one of Netflix’s sports-oriented docuseries, Quarterback, which is based around the NFL, and backed up their decision to release mid-season.
“I think the first season of that came out in July, and the Super Bowl had been played five months ago. This is a similar timeline. It’s really gonna come out, about six months after our previous season. To me, that’s more normal than what we did in season one,” opined Dahl.
With storylines such as the Kyle Larson Memorial Day Double, as well as the 2025 F1 Monaco Grand Prix also taking place on the same day, there is a definite reason why May, especially Memorial Day, is considered one of the holiest days in racing throughout the year.
It now remains to be seen if the mid-season release of the show can bring in more audiences to the sport. With driver personalities shining through in the series, and the likes of Denny Hamlin handing out the necessary drama and flair needed to build a snazzy episode around, existing NASCAR fans might be in for a treat as well.
