NASCAR’s star power extends well beyond the tracks. Pop icons and Hollywood celebrities have always taken an interest in the sport. Fans see Pitbull as a part of Trackhouse Racing’s ownership, or Michael Jordan co-owning 23XI Racing. But, it’s nothing compared to what fans saw from 1966 to 1982. Legendary Country musician, Marty Robbins loved the sport so much that he formed Robbins Racing in 1966. The team competed part-time and had a passionate racer rather than a professional one, it was Robbins himself! When Robbins died on December 8, 1982, in Nashville at the age of 57, the team shut down abruptly. But, what impact does a legendary musician have racing?
Well, Robbins achieved 6 top-10 finishes, with his best performance being a 5th-place finish at the 1974 Motor State 360 in Michigan. And this comes beside being the eye-ball drawer to the sport. What a great time have we missed to be alive! Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s recent memory of a brief interaction with Britney Spears provides a similar inadvertent timestamp of a bygone age closer to us. It sheds light on the reality that the sport’s loss in popularity goes beyond sentimentality. It’s a reflection of NASCAR’s current situation and its potential to regain its former glory.
From red carpets to empty grandstands: NASCAR’s fading celebrity spotlight
Let’s go back in time. It is the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway on July 7, 2001. You are present in the grandstands, anticipating the race to start. Then you hear, “Gentlemen, Start your engines” from the voice of pop icon, Britney Spears. The race goes as excitingly as you remember, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. emerging victorious. His Dale Earnhardt Inc. teammates, Michael Waltrip and Elliott Sadler finished second and third, respectively. It was a landslide of a victory for the Earnhardt family’s love child team!
Next day, you wake and open the newspaper. You see a picture of Spears talking to Jeff Gordon published. ‘But, she must have met Dale, the winner,’ you think to yourself and go on with your day until today, almost 24 years later. Yes! Junior confirmed that they spoke. Not just on that day, but also around 2004. Recently, on the Bless Your ‘Hardt podcast, Dale Earnhardt Jr. shared a memory of meeting Britney Spears and her dad at Texas Motor Speedway that year. But, how?
In Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s own words, “She [Britney Spears] was peak fame and somehow or another her dad had someone that was his friend in NASCAR. He was a big NASCAR fan, and so Josh says, ‘Hey Britney’s dad wants to meet you. She’s going to bring him by and she comes to Texas and they just come by the bus for 20 minutes.’ I was just like ‘Hello, how [are] you doing?’ Totally normal. Dressed in regular normal clothes, like me and you would put on and go outside to the store. And he was regular and it was kind of nice. You see the showbiz and the performance all the time, and you’re thinking that these people are just so far out of touch or out of reach, right? Of course, many things have changed since then.”
NASCAR was the preferred event for the greatest stars in entertainment in the ’90s and 2000s. Movie stars, musicians, and sports giants were eager to wave the green flag or accept honorary roles when the sport was at its height. The sport has seen Will Ferrell promoting ‘Talladega Nights’ by parading through Talladega as Ricky Bobby. In homage to ‘Days of Thunder’, Tom Cruise paid a visit to Daytona too. Country musicians and Kid Rock frequently appeared on racetracks. Even NBA greats like LeBron James and Michael Jordan attended high-profile events of the sport. But, PR people were on their toes in between 2004 and 2012, which Dale Jr. believes was where it peaked.
On this date in 2001:
Britney Spears gave the command to start engines before the Pepsi 400 at Daytona.
Here, she is seen chatting with Jeff Gordon. pic.twitter.com/rePzEc2VfZ
— NASCAR Memories (@NASCARMemories) July 7, 2021
“When you go to the races, especially during the peak NASCAR 2004-2012ish, they were pulling quite a few celebrities to all the races, not just Daytona. Of course Daytona had a lot of people. Anytime a celebrity came, your PR person would come up and go ‘Do you wanna meet them? They will come by the bus. NASCAR will bring them over if you wanted to say hey,” Dale Jr. added.
The Daytona 500 was a must-watch TV event, and races regularly drew 8–10 million people. Those figures have been drastically reduced today. With just over 4 million viewers, the 2024 Daytona 500 was one of its lowest-rated broadcasts ever. Insiders at NASCAR have admitted that the sport struggles to attract large audiences now. Recently, journalist Jeff Gluck observed that the Homestead-Miami Speedway’s deserted grandstands presented a depressing image, saying, “This should be one of the most hyped, exciting races of the year. …People should be flocking here, and that just doesn’t happen.”
Fellow journalist Jordan Bianchi added, “It sounded like there were more people here than expected, but it still wasn’t great.” At events, superstars thrive on the intensity created by fewer supporters in the stands. The thrilling atmosphere that once made NASCAR a top attraction for Hollywood’s elite has vanished in the absence of a crowded house.
Corporate sponsorships from companies like Budweiser, Lowe’s, and Sprint allowed NASCAR to flourish in the 2000s by providing money for marketing, cross-promotions, and celebrity endorsements. But since then, big sponsors like Target and M&M’s have departed, diminishing NASCAR’s visibility in popular culture. In the meantime, social media platforms have made it possible for superstars to interact directly with fans, which has reduced the demand for live sporting events. And, it’s not just us, but veteran drivers who agree to this sentiment.
NASCAR’s marketing issues have been widely discussed by Kevin Harvick, who has noted that newer drivers aren’t connecting with the general public as well as their predecessors did. “The personalities are there, but the sport isn’t packaging them the way it used to,” he said. Similar worries have been expressed by Jeff Burton, who claims that NASCAR’s move away from conventional short tracks has caused the sport to lose its attraction to the general public. “There was a time when NASCAR was a must-watch, but we’ve lost some of that urgency,” Burton said.
Although NASCAR continues to provide excellent racing, it does not have the buzz to draw in celebrities or casual viewers. ‘Drive to Survive‘ from Formula 1 is a living example of how a sport can be revitalized through gripping narratives. NASCAR can revive public interest and regain its cultural significance by embracing social media, documentaries, and promoting driver personalities. However, is the sport looking forward to reviving itself?
NASCAR’s Evolution: From Trackside Glamour to Digital Domination
While NASCAR is changing, its relationship with popular culture has undergone a significant transformation. It has adopted a different approach, eschewing traditional star power and concentrating on digital-first tactics, in contrast to other sports that have effectively maintained celebrity engagement. This is not merely a small adjustment; rather, it points at a more significant shift in NASCAR’s positioning within the sports and entertainment industries. In order to attract new viewers, NASCAR has increased its efforts on social media, influencer marketing, and free digital content. And, that change is still in the making.
Through its active adoption of digital channels, NASCAR has increased its social media footprint, gaining 41% more Instagram followers and 14% more TikTok followers year over year. Targeting younger, more diverse audiences who are not familiar with the sport, the league’s content strategy places a high priority on accessibility through explanation films, influencer partnerships, and behind-the-scenes footage. Torey Fox, NASCAR’s director of social content, highlighted this transition saying, “We recognize that people’s first exposure to NASCAR is probably going to come through a Reel. The real work begins once we get them in the door.”
Engagement has increased as a result of this strategy, but there will be fewer high-profile in-person celebrity appearances. To keep fans interested, NASCAR is relying on viral videos and interactive content rather than luring A-list celebrities to races. But, the celebrity culture will eventually be back, if NASCAR takes its roots in America’s history seriously.
The post Dale Earnhardt Jr. Entertains the “Princess of Pop” Exposing the Drastic Fall off NASCAR Is Facing appeared first on EssentiallySports.