Phelps said fans should come see the racing because he thinks NASCAR is putting out a great productGETTY IMAGES
New NASCAR President Steve Phelps said the organization needs to "make sure that the race product we put on the track is as good as it can be, which is what we’re going to do," according to Brendan Marks of the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. Phelps said, "We do know that the race day experience or the race day weekend is really important, so we’re working with our tracks to have them understand that. And we need to reinvent what I would call the event promotion." He added, "That gets back to a collaboration effort, which we’re going to see between our race tracks, NASCAR, our broadcast partners, and our teams and drivers in order to promote this sport in a way that we haven’t in the past." Phelps noted that is "really coming together and creating unique opportunities that reach fans and ask them to come out and see what’s going on in NASCAR." Phelps said fans should "come see the racing," because NASCAR is"putting out a great product." Phelps: "You’re going to have a great race day experience, whatever that might be. ... What we do to promote the sport, in advance of getting people to go, I think we need to take a hard look at and we’re doing that" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 9/27).
I NEED A HERO: In Birmingham, Josh Bean noted 20-year-old Camping World Truck Series driver Noah Gragson has the "combination of awshucks attitude and All-American boy demeanor to think he could be" NASCAR's "Next Big Thing." Gragson this week signed on to "run full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Junior Motorsports next year, taking over for the retiring Elliott Sadler." NASCAR's problem is its "lack of a crossover star" like Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon. They have been "replaced by a cadre of talented -- but largely faceless and anonymous -- drivers." NASCAR simply "doesn't have a crossover star." Dale Earnhardt Jr. retired from full-time racing last year, and the "biggest racing story of the last month was his appearance in last week's Xfinity race." Bean: "Maybe, just maybe, Gragson can eventually fill the void" (AL.com, 9/26).
