Folks, NASCAR currently has two major goals. One is to bring back the old tracks to the sport. That’s why Bowman Gray Stadium returned to NASCAR first time since 1971, and Rockingham Speedway has an Xfinity and Truck Series date this season. The other goal is the sport’s global expansion. On June 15, NASCAR is headed to the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City for its first-ever points race. But that’s not it; there are more international venues that NASCAR might be exploring.
“It’s huge. When we talk as a leadership team about where we feel like our biggest growth opportunities as a sport is, international is always one of the first things that comes up.” This is what NASCAR’s Executive Vice President, Ben Kennedy, said making the Mexico announcement. If we recall, during the BGS weekend, there were already talks on taking ‘The Clash’ to an international venue next. Well, we don’t know about “The Clash,’ but surely Mexico is just the beginning of something big. Recently, a NASCAR insider spoke about it, and everything looks on the sunny side!
Where is NASCAR headed next?
There has been a lot of chatter around international venues in NASCAR. Even Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a recommendation. He had said, “When they talk about hey man we should go overseas we should go over to Europe where should we race in Europe. One of the racetracks, if you’re familiar at all within Europe, Brands Hatch (circuit) is a very historic racetrack. They have a long course that’s really cool. But they also us have an Indy course…that’s really short.” Well, Junior has run Brands Hatch quite a few times on iRacing, and he knows it would be a hit with the next-gen running on it.
But Europe might be quite a big jump from Mexico. Maybe, NASCAR needs something closer first. Recently, RFK Racing’s vice president and Brad Keselowski‘s good friend, Steve Newmark, had a suggestion. He said, “I think it’s a great question. I have heard Brazil thrown out on a number of occasions. From a personal perspective I think that it’ll be a lot of fun to go down to Brazil. Obviously, they have got a long heritage of Motorsports down there. I think that’ll be fun. But to me, a lot of these locations that are being talked, the Middle East, I get a lot of it from our team presidents’ meetings, where NASCAR shares information.”
NASCAR’s Brazil Series is a hit, so this could work. Imagine a Cup race in São Paulo, Brazil’s world-famous Interlagos racing circuit. That would be epic. Another reason why Brazil might be a good pick is its proximity to the US. And, like Mexico, it would be fairly easy for folks to travel there and catch the race. Even Newmark agrees: “But I think those are all good signs for the sport. Of course, you are not gonna do every one. You don’t want to deprive the US fans of this very long season. But it’s okay to go try some different things.”
And if not international, NASCAR can explore its grassroots tracks. Look at how successful the race at ‘The Madhouse’ was. The grandstands were packed as NASCAR took the Cup Series to a grass root short track after a long time. Maybe Hickory Motor Speedway can be next. Dale Jr.‘s and Kevin Harvick’s CARS Tour have it as a staple. It can be a good addition to the Cup schedule.
But coming back to NASCAR’s international plans, for the global expansion to carry on successfully, the Mexico race needs to be a hit! But words flying by do not resonate with the sentiment.
NASCAR’s challenges while going international
Recently, there were some rumors and speculation about the Mexico race being canceled. But Cup Series Managing Director Brad Moran cleared the air on it. He said, “We have a big drive on going global, and we’re definitely doing it. We’re definitely going. Everything’s set up. I’ve been there myself once. We’ve had teams that have been there for probably over eight months or so putting everything together.”
But this can be a real challenge when exploring different countries. NASCAR, being a US-based racing series, depends a lot on how the country’s relations are with the host country. And when all those problems are navigated, there are more challenges waiting. The uncertainty about whether fans would show up. The logistics of the whole event would be massive. This is why Jeff Gordon has cautioned NASCAR before Mexico.
“This is going to be really challenging and test all of us doing this, this trip to Mexico City this year, because I think we’ve got, like, Michigan and Pocono right on either side of it. So it’s gonna, it’s gonna be tough.” But if this becomes a success, it can pave a long way for NASCAR going international. The Mexico race will become a road map. Bran Moran also spoke on other possible venues.
“You know we’d love to get to Brazil and Canada and Europe. Mexico’s our first stop on the global stage. So there’s a lot of energy put into this and again, like I say, we’ve got great partners with OCESA, and we’re going to be there on June 13th-15th in Mexico City and ready to go,” Moran said.
Where do you think NASCAR should head next, internationally? Share your recommendations with us in the comments below.
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