Formula One in the United States is far more popular than it was, say, five years ago and a lot of that is due to Netflix’s Drive to Survive docuseries, which has introduced race fans who might not have been aware of the personalities in the sport, to the lives of drivers, team personnel and others in the world of F1 racing. That series, of course, is quite standoffish in its manner of integrating with the public and, quite frankly this is likely the only way most people who subscribe to Netflix will get close to those at the sport’s highest level.
In the United States, the pantheon is NASCAR and its NASCAR Cup Series, which races from February through November each year with far more race dates than F1 could ever begin to stage. Of course, NASCAR isn’t criss-crossing oceans on a bi-weekly basis, but it is traveling throughout the United States from one event to the other, and with weather constraints, this can bring more work for the teams.
Now NASCAR is joining F1 on the Netflix platform with NASCAR: FULL SPEED, a series that will celebrate the stars, cars and action of NASCAR Cup Series competition. There are five 45-minute episodes planned thus far and the first one will air January 30, 2024.
Featured drivers include reigning champion Ryan Blaney from Team Penske, William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports), Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, 23XI’s Bubba Wallace, Hendrick Motorsports’ 2021 champion Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing), Team Penske’s Joey Logano and Wallace’s 23XI teammate Tyler Reddick.
The aim for these five episodes is to track how the previous. 75th anniversary 2023 NASCAR season unfolded, through the regular season and the 10-race playoffs that crowned Blaney in the Phoenix Raceway season finale. NASCAR: FULL SPEED takes the viewer behind the scenes, into the haulers and onto the tracks. It shows the physical, mental and, of course emotional aspects of competing for a championship at the highest level of American stock car racing.
Stating that “the race to the finish is just the beginning,” there will be focus on the training to compete, the challenging situations that occur on the track, the emotional toil of trying to work at the highest levels of motoring competition and the family aspect that exists within the NASCAR community. Naturally, the dust-ups between drivers and their teams and the danger aspect of racing will be part of these five initial programs.
A teaser has been produced and is available for consumption:
The official NASCAR Cup Series begins with the series’ biggest race of each season: the Daytona 500, taking place on the Daytona International Speedway oval, Sunday, February 15.
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