NASCAR’s been on a tear in the media game lately, cranking out content that’s more Hollywood than racetrack. Take the “Project: Race the Base” trailer for the 2026 street race on an active military base, for example, pure Top Gun vibes with jets, naval swagger, and drivers tossing out one-liners like they’re in a blockbuster. Chase Elliott’s “Peaches,” Joey Logano’s “Zamboni,” Carson Hocevar’s “Hot Shot,” Noah Gragson’s “Rizz,” Chase Briscoe’s “Hoosier,” and William Byron’s “Flame” give each driver a call sign that screams personality, making the race feel like a mission-driven spectacle.

Then there’s the Amazon Prime Video deal kicking off with the 2025 Coca-Cola 600, where brands like IHOP, Logitech, and Mobil 1 are weaving ads into the action. Think Dale Earnhardt Jr. in IHOP spots, Logitech pushing sim rigs, and Mobil 1’s interactive post-race segments with QR codes for seamless fan buys.

And don’t sleep on the Chicago Street Race promo, a The Bear-inspired spoof where Ryan Blaney, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Ty Dillon play over-the-top “Superfans” yelling “Da Race!” with thick Chicago accents, blending NASCAR with the city’s football-crazed culture. These aren’t just ads. They’re viral, memeable moments that have fans buzzing across TikTok, Reddit, and Instagram. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one of the stars of that Chicago spoof, recently dished on the wild behind-the-scenes fun, and it’s clear he’s loving the camera as much as the cockpit.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s take on the spotlight

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. couldn’t stop grinning when he spilled the beans to Frontstretch about filming NASCAR’s The Bear-style Chicago Street Race spoof. “When I was chopping things up, I think I threw something at Blaney. I don’t really know if enough of that made the cut or not. You know what was wild about that place is you know it was nobody was really in there cooking, and so I couldn’t imagine on a normal day it gets upwards of 100 degrees there. When they’re cooking and slinging sandwiches, that’s a lot of fun. Blaney and I, you know, we’ve hung out a lot outside the racetrack, and I feel like you know when we do things like that, it kind of gets us both kind of rolling. Pretty good. So yeah, I had a lot of fun doing it.”

The spoof, a nod to The Bear and Saturday Night Live’s “Superfans,” featured Stenhouse, Blaney, and Ty Dillon as deep-dish-loving Chicagoans hyping “Da Race!” Reddit lit up, with locals raving about the spot-on delivery. Filmed in a sweltering kitchen set with no real chefs, Stenhouse was floored by the heat, joking about the 100-degree chaos of a real sandwich joint. His off-track bond with Blaney made the shoot a blast, their natural chemistry turning the parody into something fans could feel was real.

When asked, “So how long did it take to kind of get comfortable cussing this much or and to do that in a way where you’re yelling it out in front of everybody,” Stenhouse didn’t miss a beat: “Yeah we did a decent amount of takes you know I would say to try to get comfortable with you know people watching. You know you’ve got other PRs in there. You got you know people watching and I think that’s more nerve-wracking than the actual cameras, you know, cuz like I said, the Apple film crew and the guys kind of coordinate and everything and you know executive producing or whatever you do but we have a lot of fun with it.”

The Apple-style crew kept things loose, but Stenhouse admitted the PR folks and onlookers made him sweat more than the cameras. Multiple takes helped him nail the loud, curse-heavy lines, and the fast-paced, chaotic vibe of the shoot gave the spoof its authentic edge that fans ate up.

Ryan Blaney’s take on the season

Ryan Blaney, Stenhouse’s Bear spoof co-star, got fired up on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio about the 2025 season and the playoff format. The 2023 Cup champ pushed back hard on critics calling his title a “Mickey Mouse championship.” “What kind of bugs me a little bit is the people that are so diehard on, like, ‘If you won a championship in this format that we have now, oh, it’s a Mickey Mouse championship and it doesn’t matter.’ It’s like, man, everyone has the same opportunity as the guy who won it,” Blaney said.

His No. 12 team didn’t dominate like Kyle Larson’s 2021 run but clutched up with a Coca-Cola 600 win, a Talladega victory, and a Martinsville triumph to reach the Championship 4, sealing it with a second-place Phoenix finish. “I look at our championship as like, we had a good year and we even had a better playoffs than everybody else,” he added. “We rose to the occasion when we needed to.”

Blaney’s not sold on the winner-takes-all Phoenix finale, though, saying, “Do I have my ideal like championship format? Yeah. Like my opinion on it, I was a huge fan of the initial Chase. Last 10 weeks of the year, you kind of have somewhat of a reset in points, and then you go 10 races, and whoever had the best 10 races was going to win the championship.”

Defending his title’s legitimacy, he fired back at the haters: “It gets under my skin a little bit when they’re like, ‘You guys didn’t deserve that championship.’ It’s like, what are you talking about, man? Like we went through the grinder.” Blaney’s passion shows NASCAR’s new media wave isn’t just promos. It’s drivers baring their souls, and it’s making the sport feel alive and real.