NASCAR Friday announced it hired longtime Taylor executive BRETT JEWKES to be its Chief Communications Officer. Jewkes will oversee a roughly 35-person NASCAR Integrated Marketing and Communications division that he helped develop after completing a review of NASCAR communications last August. He will join the organization's senior management team, working closely with NASCAR Chair & CEO BRIAN FRANCE, President MIKE HELTON and CMO STEVE PHELPS to develop a long-term strategy designed to make the organization more proactive and collaborative in its communications. France in a statement said, "Brett's marketing and communications expertise and broad experience working with top brands at a premier agency, coupled with his very unique understanding of NASCAR and our industry, will be a tremendous asset to our company." NASCAR conducted a six-month search and received more than 200 resumes for the CCO opening. It worked with executive recruiting firm Korn/Ferry on the search. Jewkes will begin work on April 13. He and his family will relocate from Chicago to Charlotte during the summer. Jewkes said, “The challenge of what NASCAR’s embarking on is super-attractive. It’s a spectacular professional challenge in an arena that I’m passionate about.” Jewkes initially was not among the finalists for the position. Phelps said that he was added to the group later because NASCAR leaders thought he would be a good fit for the position.
