NASCAR today unveiled a new website that emphasizes a cleaner, simpler design and dominant, full-screen imagery. The site's debut comes a year after the sanctioning body bought its digital rights back from Turner and follows an eight-figure investment in a new digital division. NASCAR hopes the new NASCAR.com will help drive interest in, attendance of and viewership for the sport. The site will make written news secondary to digital illustrations, informational graphics and video. The top module, an image that covers the entire screen, will rotate through two to three features at any one time. Above it are a series of tabs for topics ranging from standings to drivers. NASCAR developed the site with SapientNitro. It will release a suite of mobile and tablet applications at a later date (Tripp Mickle, SportsBusiness Journal). In Charlotte, Mark Washburn noted NASCAR.com this week “moves from Atlanta to a sleek new operations center” in downtown Charlotte. The hub beginning today will “operate the motorsport group’s Web operations and other digital products.” Turner will “continue to oversee ad sales and sponsorships for NASCAR digital through 2016.” NASCAR Digital Platform Managing Dir Colin Smith said, “It was a good relationship with Turner.” Washburn noted NASCAR “wanted to better emphasize fan engagement and relate to viewers in a new way through its website.” NASCAR.com attracts “about 6 million unique users monthly.” Fans watching races in the Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series “will be able to follow their favorite drivers on the Web, or through tablets or other mobile devices” (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 1/2).
