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EXCLUSIVE: Fortunate Ryan Vargas Opens Up on NASCAR’s Sponsorship Dependency, Reveals the True Reason Behind the Euro Series Switch

Published 03/13/2024, 3:42 AM EDT

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Back in November 2023, Comcast turned the spotlight on NASCAR’s own Ryan Vargas, crowning him the 2023 Comcast Community Champion of the Year. He’s the ninth person to receive this honor since it kicked off. Vargas, who has had to deal with craniosynostosis—a rare condition where a baby’s skull bones fuse too soon and mess with normal growth since childhood—has not only carved out a spot for himself in the stock car racing scene, driving the #32 Chevy for Jordan Anderson Racing, but now he’s setting his sights on making waves in the Euro Series.

But why the leap to the Euro Series? Could it be because NASCAR’s hitting a sponsorship snag? Ryan Vargas spills the beans in an Exclusive interview with EssentiallySports, shedding light on his big move.

Vargas asserts that he does not just want to succumb to the part-time truck and Xfinity series

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It’s true, NASCAR ain’t facing the kind of sponsorship squeeze it did back in 2007, which was all tangled up with the economy taking a nosedive. But still, catching those big-name sponsors and keeping them on board is like trying to lasso the wind. It’s a tough scene, and last year, even the top dogs like Steve Phelps and COO Steve O’Donnell laid it all out at the ‘State of Sport’ press conference.

Talking about his leap to the Euro Series, Vargas opened up in an EssentiallySports Exclusive about the sponsorship hurdles present in NASCAR. “Having to find sponsors or you know people coming having to come in and pay for races out of pocket and every race collector ever has experienced, you know… having to fight these issues in their own right you know,” he said.

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But Vargas was quick to count his blessings, especially when it comes to having the support of folks like Critical Path Security. “I’m very fortunate and very lucky and blessed to have partners like Critical Path security and, you know, and all the other partners that sponsor me here in the States as well. Um, – You know, it’s… I know I’m lucky. I know I’m very fortunate to be in the position that I’m in. to go out and race. as much as I have. And with critical path security backing me for this new campaign. That’s gonna completely change the trajectory Um. of a lot of the things that I’ve been working on.”

When asked whether his hop over to the Euro Series was sparked by the tight sponsorship scene, Ryan Vargas broke it down real easy. Talking to his team about their sponsorship dough for the season, they put their heads together and figured, Why not leap at going full-time in Europe? Vargas shared how he’s been in the Xfinity and truck racing scenes for a good while now. He’s super grateful for the chance to race in these series, no doubt about it.

Ryan Vargas Expands on His International Plans as He Prepares to Run in the NASCAR Euro League Full Time

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But he’s got it straight in his head that sticking to another part-time gig isn’t going to shake things up the way he needs. “It’s not gonna really… You know… move the needle in the direction that I needed to, at least as much as I needed,” he mentioned in his EssentiallySports Exclusive interview.

However, it’s not just the sponsorship puzzle that’s got him setting his sights on the Euro series. In a heart-to-heart with Eric Estepp, he spilled another solid reason for diving into what many drivers dream about.

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Written by:

Neha Dwivedi

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Neha Dwivedi is a NASCAR Writer at EssentiallySports. As a journalist, she religiously believes in the power of research, which allows her readers to dive deep into her stories and experience the detailed nuances of the sport like never before. Being proficient with Core Sport and Live Event Coverage, she has written multiple copies on the top entities of Stock Car Racing, like Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, and Tony Stewart.
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Edited by:

Shivali Nathta