When Roger Penske took over IndyCar in 2019, it was believed that he would be able to steer the organization on an upward trajectory. Having led Detroit’s successful Super Bowl XL plan, Penske came with a pedigree and delivered. With his Long Beach move last month, he has not only boosted the Series’ profile but dented hopes NASCAR’s hopes.

NASCAR is aware of the rising competition for viewership with the rise of Formula 1 in the US market, along with the resurgence of the IndyCar Series. Hence, they are making moves in order to broaden their appeal. The $7.7 billion media rights deal involving Amazon, Warner Bros. Discovery, NBC, and FOX was a step in that direction. Another major move was the Chicago Street Race and despite the financial setback it was, the organization remains determined to push forward with new ideas.

NASCAR is ready to invest despite no immediate results

One of the big moves NASCAR has made recently is to tap into cities like Los Angeles and Chicago. For two years, the Busch Light Clash was held at the L.A. Coliseum, and similarly, they’ve also gone street racing in Chicago. However, this wasn’t enough for NASCAR to fulfill its mega scheme. Therefore, they added an international points race for 2025 with Mexico City as the host.

NASCAR has been thinking outside the box for some time now. They also retained the Chicago Street race for 2025 despite being peppered by rains on both occasions. Not only that, the 2024 race also put a financial strain on the organization. On Tuesday, during Race Industry Week, NASCAR president Steve Phelps gave an insight into how the street race in Chicago impacted NASCAR.

“I think it’s really important for us to do, and we’re willing to invest. Like Chicago, financially, it is a difficult race for us. It costs 50 million dollars to put that race on, and we unfortunately didn’t sell 50 million dollars worth of tickets and sponsorship. But was it a smart decision for us? I believe it was. It helped us both with Amazon coming in and Warner Brothers Discovery coming on board,” Phelps said.

At first, it seems NASCAR took a financial loss and is seemingly okay with it. But a deeper dive suggests the street race in Chicago opened several doors for them.

The first race got NASCAR mainstream attention with Supercars star Shane Van Gisbergen winning in his first NASCAR race. Many Chicago-based influencers and local media covered the event, which gives value to the $50 million investment. The race also provided a significant viewership boost to NASCAR, with the 2024 edition drawing in 3.870 million viewers, similar to what major races like Daytona and Talladega did in the back half of the season.

For the teams also, the Chicago race saw major sponsors come into play to have representation. Front Row Motorsports and Michael McDowell landed sponsorship from the MLB side the Chicago White Sox, while the Jordan Brand and Wendy’s also joined in with other teams. Hence, it makes sense for NASCAR to continue with the Chicago Street Race for the next year, given the attention it brings along with the popularity boost.

Apart from this, NASCAR also wanted to establish its presence in the Southern California market. With due diligence analysis, they identified the Long Beach Grand Prix as its next target. It was a three-way battle as IndyCar and Formula 1 were also eyeing grabbing hold of the iconic race event. But Roger Penske got the better of both his rivals and swept the deal away last month.

He bought the race from Gerry Forsythe, who owned half the event with the late Kevin Kalkhoven. Forsythe bought Kalkhoven’s shares earlier this year which led to reports of interest from F1 and NASCAR. But Penske being as astute as ever, turned the tide in his favor.

This was a setback for NASCAR, which has yet to rebuild the Auto Club Speedway and moved the Clash to Bowman Gray Stadium. Despite the missed opportunity, NASCAR is not slowing down.

Phelps further accepted it is indeed hard for the tracks that aren’t with NASCAR to get them signed up for this project. But the new venues they’ve tapped into have led to a positive response. “For me, it’s really serving race fans. So if you think about Chicago or the Clash at the Coliseum, more than 70 percent of those who bought the tickets had never been to a NASCAR race. That’s a good thing for us, it is difficult to take them from other racetracks.”

There has also been an emphasis on increasing NASCAR’s global appeal in recent years. They already have the NASCAR Brazil Series, NASCAR México Series, NASCAR Canada Series, and NASCAR Whelen Euro Series which are helping the organization to grow its presence beyond the US. Moreover, NASCAR’s Vice President and Chief International Officer Chad Seigler has promised to expand the stock car scene internationally.

“We kind of look at our international focus from three silos. We have the individual series and our philosophy has always been, we know we can’t take the Cup Series and have it travel around like Formula One does, so if we can go into a market and create local stars, local heroes, local team owners, local track infrastructure, that’s good for us,” Seigler said before stating his big ambition. “Focus is taking one of the [NASCAR] national series outside the U.S.”

The fans will perhaps like the balance NASCAR struck with next year’s schedule. They managed to keep the traditional races alive and kicking but didn’t shy away from experimenting. However, the same cannot be said for the Next Gen car.

Changes in the Next Gen car aren’t entirely in NASCAR’s control

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Ever since the Gen 7 car hit the NASCAR circuits, there’s been criticism of how super speedway and short-track racing took a hit. More than drafting tracks like Daytona have now adopted fuel-saving strategies. In the meantime, short-oval races are falling out of favor. Richmond already lost a date for next year, but the Roval managed to retain the road course event.

According to drivers like Denny Hamlin, the easy fix is bumping the horsepower in the race car. Yet, NASCAR has refrained from making any big changes to the automobile. And there’s a reason behind it. “It’s an industry-wide thing; it’s just not hey, NASCAR is going to do this, this, and this. It really is working with our OE partners, working with Goodyear, working with our race teams and we’re in constant collaboration with those groups.” Steve Phelps explained.

Now, there might be a reason why NASCAR has refrained from making any big changes to the new race car. And that is an entry of a fourth OEM partner. There is a significant buzz surrounding Honda’s imminent involvement with NASCAR. Moreover, it looks like they have played the deal behind the scenes. Even the top brass at NASCAR have opened up regarding this development. Thus, this Next-Gen platform undoubtedly makes the process easier for new OEMs to join in.