Phelps believes NASCAR's Q score now is much higher due to its handling of major social issues in '20GETTY IMAGES
NASCAR President Steve Phelps said '20 has been an "incredibly rewarding year for the people who work at NASCAR, and our race teams, and the sport broadly," but a "very demanding" one as well, according to Kelly Crandall of RACER.com. Phelps believes the sport's Q Score now is "much higher due to how NASCAR was able to get back to competing first and in handling major social issues." He said NASCAR is "more relevant than we were before," adding, "Do I believe that we potentially have lost a very small percentage of our fan base because of the stance we took? I believe that to be a true statement. But I think it's a very small minority, as evidenced by ticket sales and fan council surveys." Phelps: "We also, I believe, truly opened up the aperture to a far larger fan base that, frankly, I don't think would've considered us previously. ... For us to move past the Confederate flag was an important thing." Regarding the rest of the season, Phelps said, "I will take nothing for granted until we crown a champion. But Phoenix is coming, and we're keeping our fingers crossed and (we'll) keep the protocols in place and make sure that people don't get foolish or lax in these last few weeks." Crandall wrote this year "will leave a positive lasting impression on those in the NASCAR offices, as well as industry partners like Fox and NBC." Phelps: "We, as an industry, were resilient" (RACER.com, 10/14).
