Despite publicly acknowledging that stock car racing’s brand of Americana can prove challenging to adapt to foreign markets, NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps is not shying away from the new challenge that the sport has set for itself.
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After successfully expanding into Mexico with the Viva Mexico 250 earlier this year, and talks surrounding a return to Canada soon, NASCAR could soon be seen rapidly growing out of US boundaries, in places it already has a strong fan following, and maybe in markets that need a little more introduction to its brand and style of motorsport.
At least that seems like Phelps‘ plan, with the overall NASCAR experience at the centre of it all. Elaborating on how the sport’s brand of ‘Americana’ makes it tricky to market outside the country, it is also exactly why the sport can make a lasting impact overseas.
With no brand of racing in the world like NASCAR and its no-holds-barred, self-policed, gritty style of racing, Phelps aims to bring the NASCAR ‘sensory experience’ outside the borders of the USA.
“I do believe that our style of racing is very up close and personal; there’s a lot of what we call beating and banging, so the cars get into each other. It’s just great racing. Ours is about a really sensory experience and one that I think globally is going to work out really well for us,” said Phelps.
He also touched on the amount of action found at once during a typical NASCAR race at an oval like Talladega, falling back on the number of overtakes and lead changes, which is often comparable to F1’s whole season’s worth.
“We have racing series right now in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and Europe. They’re grassroots racing, they’re not our top-level racing, but we believe that there are other opportunities to create a global racing series. What that looks like at this particular point in time, I’m unsure, but I know as a sport and a brand and things Americana, it can work outside of our borders,” he added.
Whether NASCAR and its unique brand of racing have enough to pull in a global audience remains to be seen, based on how well the promotion can execute what seems to be an exciting plan for fans of racing from around the world.
If we have learnt anything from stock car racing’s past, it is that fans outside the USA, the average F1 enthusiast from England, or any other part of the world, can also appreciate what NASCAR has to offer. But only if it is presented in a manner that is up to global standards, often set by other series such as the World Endurance Championship, IMSA, and the like.
Forget Europe, NASCAR already went to Japan in the late 1990s and proved it has a market there as well, with star power such as Dale Earnhardt to back it up. Maybe that is the missing link we need today, a bona fide superstar driver on the field?
