Kyle Larson won at Bristol and Charlotte but faded away from the Round of 8. Joey Logano made a miraculous comeback after Alex Bowman’s penalty and won two races en route to the Cup Series championship….. Wait a second. Are you at all interested in reading these storylines? We guess that is a flat ‘NO’ because they were already covered during the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Now we are well into the 2025 season, with Christopher Bell winning two of three races already completed. So why is Netflix still stuck with the 2024 playoffs?
That is beyond what a NASCAR insider recently harped on the delayed dates for the sequel ‘NASCAR: Full Speed’. And to top it off, the streaming service is giving him the silent treatment.
NASCAR insider hounds Netflix for answers
When Netflix debuted its first-ever NASCAR show, the excitement topped the charts. The first season of ‘NASCAR: Full Speed’ aired on January 30th, 2024, just a couple of days before the Clash at the Coliseum. Fans tuned in for a recapitulation of the 2023 playoffs, the perfect seasoning before the next season kicked off. Moreover, 88% of viewers who watched the show had not watched the 2023 playoffs – thus helping convert them into fans of NASCAR. However, Netflix is not embarking on the same plan this year.
Back in November 2024, Tim Mullen, executive producer of the NASCAR show, announced that the second season would air sometime in April. By that time, we would have covered crucial races like Darlington, Bristol, or Talladega. “Yeah, the Netflix schedule is a little bit thicker this time in February, so the next iteration of the show, season two, will drop in April,” Mullen said. Kyle Dalton, host of the ‘Beating and Banging’ show, revealed that he tried to fetch new updates about the exact dates. “Over the last few months, I’ve reached out to Netflix multiple times Each time, no response.”
NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Cup Practice Nov 8, 2024 Avondale, Arizona, USA NASCAR Cup Series driver Joey Logano 22 during practice for the NASCAR Championship race at Phoenix Raceway. Avondale Phoenix Raceway Arizona USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xMarkxJ.xRebilasx 20241108_mjr_su5_024
This quiet attitude infuriated Dalton even more, as did NASCAR fans when the first announcement was made. Dalton continued, hounding the Netflix executives: “I don’t know what the thicker schedule even means…It’s absolutely ridiculous to think that casual fans will want to tune in to watch what happened in the last ten races of the 2024 season when we are already almost ten races into the 2025 season. All those storylines are old and outdated. I think this is a massive miss…and it’s totally disrespectful to NASCAR, the teams, and the fans.”
While Netflix is offending the NASCAR community with its delayed dates, it is right on time with Formula One.
Releasing right before the action
Formula One had quite an eventful season in 2024. Red Bull star Max Verstappen had an obstacle-ridden path to a fourth championship, as other drivers like Lando Norris challenged him. Norris and Oscar Piastri led McLaren to a constructor’s championship title, a dramatic power reversal. Then Lewis Hamilton spent a quiet and awkward final season with Mercedes, ahead of his induction into Ferrari. So fans have a lot to revise before the 2025 kicks off – and Netflix is complying with their wishes.
Season 7 of ‘Drive to Survive’ will be released on Netflix on March 7, a whole week ahead of the season-opening race. Kyle Dalton reflected on how opportune that date is: “F1’s seventh season of Drive To Survive will be released tomorrow on the streaming service. The docuseries will recap the 2024 season…Makes sense because the 2025 F1 campaign kicks off next week in Australia.”
Tom Hutchings, Executive Producer at the show’s Box to Box Films production company, elevated the hype. “We’re really excited for fans to watch the new season of Drive to Survive. The 2024 season was incredible both on and off the track, with the action well and truly underway before the first race in Bahrain. Expect more drama and fun from the paddock this season and a few surprises too.”
Meanwhile, NASCAR fans do not have the same luxury as their F1 counterparts. All the attention may be focused on the current season when ‘NASCAR: Full Speed’ finally releases!
The post Netflix’s Unwanted Silence After Disrespectful Decision Offends NASCAR Community appeared first on EssentiallySports.