NASCAR President Steve Phelps Sounds Off on Navigating the Pandemic, Rising Ratings, Tech Innovation New venues, new markets, more diverse audience are part of the organization's transformation By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Thursday, October 21, 2021 - 1:34 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Since being named president of NASCAR in September 2018, Steve Phelps has overseen the organization's dramatic commercial, cultural, and technological transformation. Most notably, in 2020, he guided NASCAR through a pandemic-afflicted season, during which it became the first sport to return to competition and bring back fans to the venue.
At SportsBusiness Journal's World Congress of Sports last week, Phelps discussed how NASCAR has navigated the pandemic, its improving TV ratings and efforts to expand its audience, its commitment to racial equality and social justice, this year's dynamic new race schedule (featuring new venues, markets, and track layouts), the highly anticipated launch of the Next-Gen car next year, and more.
On NASCAR's being the first major league to come back during the pandemic:
We were dark for 71 days while we devised a plan that worked to get back to racing. On May 17, 2020, we went back to racing in Darlington with no fans. And then, in mid June, we started slowly bringing back fans, and that felt good. It was a lot of work. All the sports should be congratulated for the work that they did to get back to competing. It was hard.
We have some advantages in NASCAR with our crews wearing built-in PPE and our drivers in their cars with their uniforms, head socks, helmets, and head-to-toe [protection]. We took advantage of that. Now we are growing as a sport, and we're stealing share which was intentional and was a stated goal.
On growing the fanbase and how partnerships can drive interest:
We understand that not everyone's going to be a fan of NASCAR. But exposing it through different partnerships is really important for us. We've been very deliberate about making sure that we are finding the right partnerships because we want to serve that potential fan wherever they are. If we [participate in] programs that are reaching different audiences then we're not going to grow. I think we have a foundation to grow the sport, but the partnerships are critical for us. We can't be all things to all people, but we can certainly be smart about how we're going to market or target specific segments of the population.
On NASCAR's upward trajectory since Phelps took over as president:
It's a different NASCAR than it was [when I became president]. We're at a period now where our share this year vs. 2019 [is] plus 20%. Our engagement numbers on digital and social are the highest that they've ever been. Sponsorship is coming back.
We had a tough go for a decade. If you'd said to me in 2018 that NASCAR was going to win League of the Year [at the 2021 Sports Business Awards], I wouldn't have taken that bet. We clawed back, and the sports community said we did it better and deserve to win. That felt fantastic for every person that works at NASCAR. And I'm not just talking about the sanctioning body where I work but [about] teams, drivers, auto manufacturers, our broadcast partners. They were all part of the growth to bring NASCAR back. It's an exciting time.
On the upcoming debut of NASCAR's Next-Gen car in 2022:
It has been a long time coming. This car is a panacea for everything that is still ailing NASCAR. It's going to be great for the teams, great for our OEM partners, and, most important, it's going to be great for the fans. It will have all kinds of really cool innovation pieces and cameras in every car, which will be phenomenal. Innovation for us is important.
It debuts at the L.A. Coliseum, which is where we will have an exhibition event called the Busch Clash. We are not going to race around the Coliseum; we actually are going to pave a track inside, which is going to be really cool. It will be a week before the Super Bowl, which is also in L.A.
On innovative scheduling for the 2021 and 2022 seasons:
This year, we had the boldest schedule that we've had in 50 years, so we're going to build on that. All the venues that we went to for the first time this year, we will go back to next year. We added the Coliseum in L.A. and Worldwide Technology Raceway in St. Louis. In 2023, I don't know what the schedule is going to look like, but it won't look like 2022. We'll continue to innovate and we have to go to new markets.
In 2022, our Xfinity series is going to go to Portland, OR. We are underserved in the Pacific Northwest, so we are going to continue to showcase [NASCAR]. We have to go to different places. That's what we need to do to grow this sport. We need to make sure that fan experience is like none other. [We] need to have schedule variation and go to different parts of the country - or, frankly, internationally - to expose us to a new audience.
On NASCAR's esports efforts and the future of iRacing:
After we shut down, we partnered with iRacing and Fox [Sports], and iRacing created something called the NASCAR Pro Invitational. The five highest-rated esports [events] on television of all time are all NASCAR races. The country wanted to watch something that was not a rerun, and it was fun.
We have a young African-American kid named Roger Carruth, who is going to be a star at NASCAR, and he was the only one in his Drive for Diversity program that got his start in iRacing. Or you look at a guy like William Byron, who was in our playoffs; he started his career in iRacing. It's true sim racing. It's very cool, and it's very lifelike - so lifelike that you actually can go race and get into a car and be competitive. Ther
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
19/11/2025
Sphere Sound Kicks Up Its Heels at Radio City Music HallUltra-immersive system from the singular Las Vegas venue is also ready for sportsBy Dan Daley, Audio Edi...
19/11/2025
The Future of Stadium and Arena Video Control Rooms: Tech Leaders Talk 4K, IP, a...
19/11/2025
One Year at Intuit Dome: Walking Through the Stunning Arena's Advanced Video...
19/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: IMG's Francois Westcombe Goes Inside IMG's Annual Digital ...
19/11/2025
Inside Brighton & Hove Albion's fan-first media machine By George Bevir
Tuesday, November 18, 2025 - 10:10
Print This Story
Brighton & Hove Albion'...
19/11/2025
Rock Chalk Rebuild, Part 1: Kansas Athletics Brings New Production Power to Rebu...
19/11/2025
Rock Chalk Rebuild, Part 2: A Pro's Guide to Kansas Athletics' New Video...
19/11/2025
MLB Media Rights Shakeup: NBC Inks Three-Year Deal for Sunday Night Baseball, Pe...
19/11/2025
Rohan Parashuram Kanawade attends the premiere of Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears) at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival at Egyptian Theatre on January 26, 2025, in Pa...
19/11/2025
Awards season is heating up, and the International Documentary Association just ...
19/11/2025
Aerojet Rocketdyne President Ken Bedingfield and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders were joined by state and local officials to celebrate the groundbreaking o...
19/11/2025
L3Harris and PentenAmio formalise their teaming agreement at MilCIS 2025, streng...
19/11/2025
Calrec gives Phoenix Broadcast Solutions its full support in strategic multi-year enterprise partnership New Singapore OB company invests in Calrec technology f...
19/11/2025
October brings a larger audience in front of TV screens. The cooler autumn weather and the continuation of new programming schedules brought increases in both t...
19/11/2025
IRVING, Texas Nexstar Media Group and Tegna filed applications on Nov. 18 with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking its consent to transfer broad...
19/11/2025
Vitec has acquired Datapath, a developer of real-time video processing for large-scale video walls, AVoIP content distribution and KVM control in mission-critic...
19/11/2025
NEVADA CITY, Calif. Telestream has introduced ARGUS Version 2.3, which introduces Live Look, a feature that lets operators inspect live and on-demand streams vi...
19/11/2025
STAMFORD, Conn. and NEW YORK Charter Communications, Inc. has announced a major deal with Amazon Web Services (AWS) that establishes AWS as one of Charters stra...
19/11/2025
TOKYO Atomos has announced a major firmware update that brings integrated camera control to the Ninja TX GO and Ninja TX its new CFexpress-based monitor-recor...
19/11/2025
Berklee's Signature Series Reimagines the Musical and Visual Artistry of Col...
19/11/2025
PlayBox Neo departed the NAB Show New York 2025 on a high note. The company's all-new PlayBox Neo Suite made a splash on the show floor, drawing strong inte...
19/11/2025
AAVBR (American Audio Visual Baton Rouge), a leading full-service event production company serving Louisiana and the Gulf Coast region, has enhanced its product...
19/11/2025
In its mission to deliver live event services combining advanced engineering with a creative approach to captivating live sports and entertainment experiences, ...
19/11/2025
NEW YORK Short-form vertical video has exploded across platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, but a new survey commissioned by Media.net, a provider of c...
19/11/2025
NEW YORK YES Network, the regional sports network home of the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Nets, and CAMB.AI have struck a partnership they said will leverage ...
19/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has issued detailed guidance on filings that were disrupted by the government shutdown. While many of those fil...
19/11/2025
NEW YORK The popularity of NFL games is largely responsible for continued seasonal momentum in TV viewership into October (measured Sept. 29-Oct. 26), according...
19/11/2025
DirecTV has announced that its MyFree DirecTV streaming service has added seven new channels. Those include four sports services, NBA FAST, Red Bull TV, DAZN Ri...
19/11/2025
SURREY, U.K. Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC) has launched Flair Bridge, a compact device that transforms how operators control the company's motion-contr...
19/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission, which is continuing to rapidly ramp up its operations after the end of the federal government shutdown, has se...
19/11/2025
IRVING, Texas Nexstar Media Group and Tegna filed applications on Nov. 18 with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking its consent to transfer broad...
19/11/2025
Martin Freeman, Jessie Buckley, Wu-Tang Clan's Raekwon, Eddie the Eagle and ...
19/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz collaborates with Broadcom to enable testing and validation of n...
19/11/2025
Back to All News
Innato, starring Imanol Arias and Elena Anaya, arrives on Netf...
19/11/2025
Back to All News
Guillermo del Toro Sits Down With Troll 2 Director Roar Uthaug...
19/11/2025
Some projects feel monumental from the moment the first phone call comes in. When BCE, the host broadcaster appointed to coordinate the national coverage, asked...
19/11/2025
November 19 2025, 08:00 (PST) BAY AREA HOST COMMITTEE AND DOLBY PARTNER TO DELIVER IMMERSIVE FAN EXPERIENCES
During the Week of Football's Biggest Game...
19/11/2025
Michael D. Higgins: Ireland's Ninth President features RT Archives footage and interviews across seven decades
Watch Wednesday 19 November at 9:35pm on RT...
19/11/2025
Scripps Research scientists receive $1.1 million to advance AI modeling for HIV vaccine development New AI system helps scientists rapidly pinpoint the most pro...
18/11/2025
Independent media across Central America are operating under intensifying financial pressure, yet there is a clear appetite for models that can sustain both ind...
18/11/2025
NBA Debuts New Comms Infrastructure and Systems for RefereesTwo-phase rollout is intended to improve game flow, enhance officiating accuracyBy Dan Daley, Audio ...
18/11/2025
Platinum White Paper: How Aggreko Delivers Certainty For Broadcasters On The Wor...
18/11/2025
Kiswe Extends DTC Products With Kiswe Core Cloud-Based Tool for Distributing Con...
18/11/2025
Spanish Basketball Federation partners with ScorePlay to power digital transform...
18/11/2025
HBS selects BBright encoders and decoders to connect ST 2110 live production wor...
18/11/2025
Ashes to Ashes: Inside TNT Sports' hybrid and maverick' production plan...
18/11/2025
SVG All-Stars: Mimi Fotopoulos, Director, Talent and Production Operations, Tenn...
18/11/2025
SVG LIVE! Conference Explores the Tech Side of Sports and Entertainment ConvergenceLive sports and music productions increasingly share gear and infrastructureB...
NASCAR President Steve Phelps Sounds Off on Navigating the Pandemic, Rising Ratings, Tech Innovation New venues, new markets, more diverse audience are part of the organization's transformation By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor 
