Latest news with #LongPond
Forbes
13 hours ago
- Automotive
- Forbes
Nascar Welcomes Numerous New Partners As Racing Blossoms Again
LONG POND, PA - JUNE 22: Denny Hamlin (#11 Joe Gibbs Racing Progressive Toyota) drives during the ... More NASCAR Cup Series The Great American Getaway 400 on June 22, 2025 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) Formula 1 may have a hit Netflix series and a movie that debuted this June, but it is nowhere close to Nascar in terms of popularity in America. With a trio of American events, Formula 1's potential is limited (no other country hosts multiple F1 events), while Nascar is using the newfound interest in racing to grow its own brand. Stock car racing – after a decade-long decline in ratings, attendance and sponsorship – is back with a vengeance since the debut of the Next Gen car. 'Nascar is authentic and quintessential Americana,' Nascar's SVP and Chief Commercial Officer Craig Stimmel, said. "While fandom of our sport continues to grow and expand beyond our borders, we continue to have the most passionate fanbase in the United States in terms of brand loyalty, and that's where our focus is. As Steve Phelps mentioned recently, F1 and Nascar are different products with very different fan bases. As the popularity of motorsports continues to rise, it's a good thing for us - especially being by far the number one motorsport in the United States. A new racecar beginning in 2022 – the Next Gen – reenergized fans and partners alike. Along with the new look, Nascar's leadership has also evolved to modernize the sport in fresh ways, with Commissioner Steve Phelps, President Steve O'Donnell, and Senior Vice President of Racing Development and Strategy Ben Kennedy leading the charge. Nascar is walking the tight rope throughout the reemergence as not only the leading American motor sport, but also as the landing place for brands searching for growth. 'More than anything, I think you're seeing these brands realize the momentum Nascar is carrying and the exposure to a massive fanbase that our sport offers," Stimmel said. "Look no further than the consistent audience we've seen across our broadcast partners FOX, Prime Video and TNT this season alone, around 3 million average viewers for every Nascar Cup Series race so far this season, with the NBC season upcoming. Then, you have another million or so on average on The CW for the Xfinity Series. And that's just on TV, and that's a number we deliver for 10 months out of the year!' Through the Amazon Prime portion of the schedule, the Cup Series averaged 2.16 million viewers per race, with the Xfinity Series on The CW averaging 1.1 million viewers, a 19% increase from 2024. On the digital side, Nascar said its digital platforms have increased by 7% over 2024. Additionally, Nascar's cross-platform follower count (FB, IG, X, TikTok, YouTube) is at 17.5 million followers, up by 1.3 million since the start of 2025. With these increases, Nascar has inked 15 new official partnerships between major companies and the sanctioning body, with firms like National Debt Relief, Dave & Buster's, Jack Link's, Ticketmaster, Arby's, Liquid Death, amongst others. 'We're super bullish of the extraordinary brand value, exposure, and opportunities we've been able to create at all levels of the sport," Stimmel said. "The Nascar industry is one of the most uniquely sponsor-friendly sports in the world and we are confident in our proven ability to deliver exceptional value to brands of all sizes and on a variety of terms. With owning 14 tracks and working with our other track partners, as well, we are in a unique position as a league to work with our teams to deliver a message that moves product for brands. 'It's no secret that sponsorship strategies are always evolving and partnerships will inevitably change because of that – especially now with so many ways for brands – both on the legacy side and challenger brands: to promote and activate, whether it be through on-site activation, IP adjacency or social and digital promotion. With that said, we are focused on delivering bespoke solutions based on brand briefs versus just a standard league sponsorship model. With these expanding and quickly evolving options inherently comes a wide variation in how long brands choose to partner. It's truly on a case-by-case basis depending on what a brand's goals are.' Not only has Nascar benefitted from its own return to American glory, but so have teams. Dollar Tree just inked a major multiyear extension with Jimmie Johnson's Legacy Motor Club. National Debt Relief joined Denny Hamlin's Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 team ahead of the 2025 season, as did King's Hawaiian (moved from RFK Racing), Progressive Insurance and Bob's Discount Furniture. New partnerships are not the only ones that Nascar is thrilled about. Red Bull, for example, returned to Nascar after a 14-year hiatus, partnering with Trackhouse Racing, as did Wendy's. Carvana continues to sponsor Johnson, and others like Chipotle are backing drivers (Ryan Blaney in this case through a public endorsement) with partnerships and activations. Aaron's, a longtime Michael Waltrip Racing partner, returned to the Cup Series with Front Row Motorsports this year. Stimmel concluded: 'The success we've been able to experience across all our media partners at this juncture in the season has had a very positive impact on the interest we're seeing in our sport. This is a new Nascar, and the proof is there in the metrics we continue to experience on a weekly basis.'
New York Times
26-06-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
How Prime won over the NASCAR world and raised the bar for future broadcasts
LONG POND, Pa. — A rare thing happened five weeks ago. As NASCAR's longest race unfolded, social media discourse about the sport — often overflowing with negativity and snark — instead exuded approval over what was playing out on Amazon Prime. Fans were witnessing a polished, professional broadcast that they felt was unlike anything they'd seen in recent years. And it wasn't just fans who took notice. Advertisement 'Everyone who has come up to me — friends or fans or whoever — and has watched the races over the last few weeks has had nothing but incredible things to say,' Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott said. 'And it seems like it's been really well done, at least that's kind of been the perception that's out there that I've heard.' Complaining about a race broadcast is like catnip for many NASCAR fans. Regardless of who is handling the coverage, a vocal contingent will make their criticisms known. It seemed certain Prime would be subject to such scrutiny when it began broadcasting its five-race package of Cup Series events as part of NASCAR's new seven-year media rights deal that split up the 38 Cup races among Fox Sports (14 races), NBC Sports (14), Prime (five) and Warner Bros. Discovery (five, on TNT). Prime's foray into NASCAR marks the first time the league's premier division had its races carried exclusively on a streaming service. Yet from Prime's first race on May 25 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and through the following four weeks, a NASCAR community known to be averse to change largely embraced Prime's presentation. 'They (Prime) do a good job of telling the stories and getting you excited about strategy and showing how one driver may catch another,' said Denny Hamlin, driver for Joe Gibbs Racing and 23XI Racing co-owner, last week before Prime's last broadcast at Pocono Raceway. 'They are doing a great job so far.' How did Prime resonate with a fan base that's often skeptical about any outside entity coming into the sport and trying to be different? First, Prime recognized it knew what it didn't know. For Prime to produce a successful NASCAR broadcast, its leaders knew it was best to lean on experience. Utilizing a strategy similar to the one it employs for its NFL 'Thursday Night Football' broadcasts, Prime partnered with NBC Sports to bring on many of the same behind-the-scenes staffers who make that network's coverage top-notch. This gave Prime a strong start, only needing to fine-tune how it wanted the broadcasts to look. Advertisement To put its own spin on the broadcasts, Prime also introduced new technological elements. The most notable is the 'Burn Bar,' which measures a team's fuel consumption through the course of a race, then conveys the information to viewers in a digestible manner. 'How do we take really complex things and present them in a really simple way,' Prime Video senior coordinating producer Alex Strand said of the broadcast's goal. 'And that to me is the fun challenge of it. … I think most people would be pretty excited and surprised by how much opportunity there is to really get technical, but make it approachable.' Prime has one big advantage over NASCAR's other broadcast partners: It's not bound by the same constraints as linear television and doesn't have to adhere to strict broadcast windows. As a streaming service with no cap on when it needs to sign off, Prime has more freedom to go deeper in its post-race analysis. 'We, obviously, heard fans talking about it. We also just saw it ourselves,' Strand said. 'I want to hear analysts break down how that race ended. We just saw that as an opportunity. And it was already in our DNA, so it was a pretty easy decision to make.' To figure out how to fill that time, Strand looked at how Prime has covered the NFL, European soccer and other sports properties. Its NASCAR broadcasts featured an extended pre- and post-race show, so its hosts and analysts could first inform viewers on what was to come, then thoroughly recap the races. The run times varied depending on what happened in the race and how much there was to talk about. The thoroughness of the post-race show became Prime's calling card. Anchored by Danielle Trotta and with NASCAR Hall of Famer Carl Edwards and current driver Corey LaJoie as studio analysts — and sometimes joined by booth analysts Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Steve Letarte — the group breaks down the just-completed race to a depth viewers don't typically get from a post-race show on a network facing time restrictions. Advertisement The numbers have reinforced Prime's decision to produce an elongated post-race show. Prime said the program retained an average of 43 percent of its audience from the race. 'I personally like the pre- and post-race show the most,' Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron said. 'Having a professional desk like that and having a chance to recap the race in a more relaxed setting just adds to the value and adds to the energy of the event. It just captures the sights and sounds.' The post-race show has afforded Edwards and LaJoie, both television newbies, a platform to shine. For LaJoie, who has hosted podcasts and radio shows, this was not a completely new endeavor. Edwards, though, had largely been away from the sport since retiring from racing after the 2016 season. But Edwards has used his time away as an asset. On the show, he takes an inquisitive approach as he re-acclimates to a sport that's changed considerably since he raced. This, in a way, makes him serve as a conduit for fans in getting to know drivers better and explaining ongoing storylines. 'You know how in filmmaking they always need a character that doesn't know anything so they can ask the questions?' Edwards said. 'I think this has been just this perfect timing and opportunity for me because I'm literally learning about the sport again. So much has changed.' NASCAR and Prime hoped that a strong broadcast aired over a streaming service would yield a younger demographic. And so far, it has. According to Prime, the median age for a viewer of its five races was 56.1, nearly seven years younger than audiences watching Cup Series races on linear networks in 2025 (62.8). And its five races represented the five youngest audiences of any Cup race this season. The five-race slate averaged 2.16 million viewers, on par with previous broadcasts on traditional cable networks. 'It was rewarding to see NASCAR's fan base shift over to a new platform,' said Brian Herbst, NASCAR executive vice president, chief media and revenue officer, 'not only achieving the viewership levels that NASCAR delivers on cable TV today, but bringing in younger demos and new fans to our sport.' Advertisement With NASCAR and fans responding favorably, what will Prime do for an encore next summer? Sitting inside Prime's production trailer on-site at Pocono Raceway last weekend, Strand shook his head and smiled at the question. The answer will come later. There's plenty of time to sort that out. 'We've had so much fun,' Strand said. 'I'm excited about what TNT will bring (beginning Saturday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway). I'm excited about how NBC will finish the season. … Our hope is that this season of NASCAR really represents a growth in excitement around the sport that rolls into 2026.' (Top photo of Prime's NASCAR studio crew; from left, Danielle Trotta, Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Corey LaJoie: Meg Oliphant / Getty Images)
Washington Post
23-06-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
NASCAR set for summer stretch March Madness style. Will new tournament end summer schedule malaise?
LONG POND, Pa. — It's time to bust out the brackets, pick an upset or two, and follow winners on the road — a journey over city streets, concrete and bricks — to the final four and beyond. Totally awesome, baby? Forget all the upset specials in March. NASCAR will find out soon enough if its attempt to snap out of a mid-summer malaise with its first in-season tournament is a success with drivers and fans as it strives to boost engagement and build buzz in the staid regular season.
Associated Press
23-06-2025
- Automotive
- Associated Press
NASCAR set for summer stretch March Madness style. Will new tournament end summer schedule malaise?
LONG POND, Pa. (AP) — It's time to bust out the brackets, pick an upset or two, and follow winners on the road — a journey over city streets, concrete and bricks — to the final four and beyond. Totally awesome, baby? Forget all the upset specials in March. NASCAR will find out soon enough if its attempt to snap out of a mid-summer malaise with its first in-season tournament is a success with drivers and fans as it strives to boost engagement and build buzz in the staid regular season. The concept has already juiced enthusiasm in NASCAR to levels not seen since the halcyon days when Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough duked it out in the 1979 Daytona 500. 'To be really honest with you,' 2020 NASCAR champion Chase Elliott said, 'I have not paid any attention to it.' Maybe a look at the matchup will get NASCAR's most popular driver pumped! Elliott is seeded fifth against No. 28 seed Austin Dillon in the first round of the head-to-head showdown in the race-within-the-race set for this weekend at the track better known as Atlanta Motor Speedway. Here's a refresher for Elliott and any other sports fan who missed out on the specifics of NASCAR joining the in-season tournament party, much like attempts in the NBA, NHL, and, of course, throughout the world in soccer. NASCAR is set to start the engines on a five-race, bracket-style tournament called the In-Season Challenge in the midst of the summer slate, which comes with a $1 million prize to the winner. The final 32-driver field was set by results of the last three races at Michigan, Mexico City and Pocono. The drivers are paired in head-to-head matchups based on seeding, with the winners advancing to the next round in a bracket format that mirrors the NCAA basketball tournaments. Buoyed by a win at Michigan and a runner-up finish at Pocono, Denny Hamlin earned the top seed. He'll square off — race off? — against No. 32 seed Ty Dillon. Pocono winner Chase Briscoe is the No. 2 seed and is pitted against No. 31 seed Noah Gragson. Chris Buescher is third, Christopher Bell fourth and Elliott fifth, among notable names. The format is single elimination with the field cut to 16 at the street race in Chicago, eight at Sonoma, four on the lone concrete track in the series at Dover and the final two over the yard of bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Challenge is part of NASCAR's media rights deal that includes TNT, and the Atlanta-based cable network will broadcast all five races in the tournament, starting with the 400-miler in Atlanta. Aside from a shrug from Elliott and a few others, drivers are intrigued by the idea of increasing the stakes in each race beyond a playoff berth, trophy and the winner's purse. 'I love it. I think it's great,' three-time Cup champion Joey Logano said. 'I think it's placed perfectly where it is in the season. This is kind of that moment where the newness is worn off. We're into the rhythm, we're racing every week. It's starting to start a little bit of, who's going to be in the playoffs, who's not, the cutoff line all those types of things. But it's not really the main story quite yet.' Stories are what sell, of course, and the sizzle in Pocono over the weekend had little to do with which drivers or teams are the ones to beat for the 2025 championship. Rather, it was whether two pedestrian drivers were going to fight, the end of Amazon Prime's run of wildly-popular telecasts and Hall of Fame driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s win in his first race as a crew chief. 'This really spices up the mid-part of the season,' Logano said. So does placing a few bucks on No. 11 to win. But as of Monday afternoon, most sports gambling sites did not offer odds on specific matchups headed into Atlanta. NASCAR is offering $1 million to a winning fan with a perfect bracket in its fantasy game. There are some quirks to the bracket: Shane van Gisbergen won the Cup race in Mexico City and is not in the field while series points leader William Byron is only a No. 9 seed. The tournament boasts matchups in the first-round of past Cup champions (Kyle Busch-Brad Keselowski), former teammates (Briscoe-Gragson), and even best friends (Bubba Wallace-Daniel Suarez). The idea for the challenge was largely championed by Hamlin, a three-time Daytona 500 champion who floated the idea of a mid-season tournament on his 'Actions Detrimental' podcast. When NASCAR bought into the idea and announced the creation of the tournament last year, Hamlin called the tournament on social media 'such a win for our sport and drivers.' He jokingly added, 'I will collect my 1M royalty next season.' Hamlin's on deck and clearly a favorite to win it all, with three wins this year for Joe Gibbs Racing and the top seed. (And let's not haggle over who gets credit in court.) 'I'm a sports guy, so I'm going to be engaged with it,' Hamlin said. 'I'll know who I will have to beat next week. I've told the team, we are going to try and do what we can. We are going to be up against it because we are going to tracks that aren't very favorable to me. But we are going to try to do our best to beat that one car for the next four to five weeks.' NASCAR will present the tournament winner at Indianapolis with a ring, jackets, trophy and — oh yeah, a million bucks. That's enough cash to get anyone's attention — even Elliott's. 'I don't know what you get. You get anything,' Elliott asked. 'Oh, a million dollars to the winner? Then yeah, we want to win.' ___ AP auto racing:
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
NASCAR: Larson seeks first win at Pocono
LONG POND — It is hard to believe that for all the success Kyle Larson has had in his NASCAR Cup Series career, he has not yet won at Pocono Raceway. In 13 seasons and 382 races, Larson has 22 poles, 32 victories, 128 top-five and 193 top-10 finishes. He won the 2021 championship and was runner-up in 2023. Advertisement Yet in 17 starts at the 2.5-mile triangular track, he has two poles, five top-five and nine top-10 finishes. Twice he placed second: June 2018 and the second June 2021 race. His nine top-10 finishes are the most by a driver at the track without a win. 'We haven't won here yet, which is disappointing,' Larson said. 'The NextGen Era, we've been decent, but not amazing. Hopefully, this year we can be better. I like this track, I enjoy the uniqueness of it. Hopefully, we can have some good speed.' Larson tried to change that Sunday in the Great American Getaway 400 Presented by He started 24th after qualifying at 169.920 mph Saturday. A sellout crowd was on hand for a third consecutive year. However, morning thunderstorms passing through the area caused the scheduled 2:20 p.m. start to be delayed. Advertisement Perhaps Larson's best chance at a Pocono victory came in the first June 2021 race. He won the three previous races at Charlotte, Sonoma and Nashville and was going for four in a row. He was half a lap away from making that happen when his left-front tire went flat. Alex Bowman passed him to take the checkered flag, while Larson limped home ninth. * Kyle Larson drives during a qualifying session for the NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Hermanos Rodriguez race track in Mexico City, Saturday, June 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano) * Kyle Larson walks to his car before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich., Sunday, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) Advertisement * Kyle Larson celebrates in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley) Show Caption 1 of 3 Kyle Larson drives during a qualifying session for the NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Hermanos Rodriguez race track in Mexico City, Saturday, June 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano) Expand He said it is not something he dwells on whenever he returns here. 'I forget about it until I see the highlight,' Larson said. 'But it's not something that you think about. Seeing it makes you wish, 'Dang, I wish I had not got that flat and got the win here finally.' But it's just racing.' Advertisement Through 16 races this season, Larson has one pole (Kansas) and three wins — Homestead, Bristol, Kansas — along with nine top fives and 11 top 10s. He is second in the standings with 537 points, 67 behind leader William Byron. However, he also has four finishes of 32nd or worse, including a 36th place last week at Mexico City. 'I feel like we've had a couple rougher finishes not of our doing,' Larson said. 'But aside from that, I feel like we've been pretty consistent — maybe more consistent than we've been in the past. I've been pleased with our team. Hopefully, we can keep evolving and keep getting our cars better and be ready for the playoffs when that time of year comes.' The three wins have Larson firmly entrenched in the playoffs over the season's final 10 races. However, he said he and his team aren't planning to do anything crazy in the races leading up to the playoffs. Advertisement 'You're trying to make your car better every week for every race,' Larson said. 'I don't think we're the type of team that goes trying off-the-wall stuff to just think about the playoffs. Like, we're running a different setup here than we did last year and that's just to be better at Pocono than we were last year. Hopefully, that can carry over to other race tracks.' Kurt Busch honored Pocono Raceway honored former driver Kurt Busch by having him serve as the Grand Marshal for Sunday's Great American Getaway 400. Busch gave the command for drivers to start their engines. Also, at the start-finish line, Pocono painted 'TY Kurt.' Advertisement During his 23-year Cup Series career, covering 776 races, Busch had 28 poles, 34 wins, 161 top-five and 339 top-10 finishes and was the 2004 champion. He also won five Xfinity Series and four Craftsman Truck Series races. Three of Busch's Cup Series victories came at Pocono: July 2005, August 2007 and June 2016. His win in August 2007 was particularly dominant, as he led 175 of 200 laps. He also has two poles, 14 top-five and 21 top-10 finishes in 41 starts at the track. Unfortunately, it was at Pocono in 2022 that Busch suffered a concussion in a practice crash that ended his career. In May, it was announced that the 46-year old from Las Vegas was part of the 2026 Hall of Fame Class, along with Harry Gant and Ray Hendrick, which will be inducted in January in Charlotte, North Carolina.
