‘NASCAR: Full Speed’: Behind Netflix’s Racing Hit & Its Future
Watching the first full minute of the Netflix docuseries NASCAR: Full Speed is long enough to realize that the way we see NASCAR on TV has changed forever. The scene is pre-race at Virginia’s Martinsville Speedway, and families are wishing their drivers well as they prep for the second-to-last race of the 2023 Cup Series season. Gianna Tulio kisses Ryan Blaney, now her fiancé, and encourages him to go out on the racetrack and be the best version of himself. “Be Ryan f- - -ing Blaney,” she says.
NASCAR has long presented a squeaky-clean product to the world, letting its horsepower and rivalries do most of the talking while experiencing a period of flat or lowered ratings and some attendance issues. But with Full Speed, NASCAR execs have loosened the grip on the brand’s steering wheel, allowing drivers to show themselves for who they are — humorous, competitive, tough-talking, vulnerable human beings willing to knock their fellows out of the way if it means winning. And there’s no doubt the shift has everything to do with the success of the streamer’s Formula 1: Drive to Survive, which, now in its sixth season, has made the European-based F1 racing series a favorite in the U.S.
“I don’t think we’re trying to run away from the conversation around how [Full Speed] could affect us in the same way,” says Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR Hall of Fame driver and NBC motorsports analyst. “We would love that.”
So far, so good. The captivating five-episode Full Speed focuses on NASCAR’s elite drivers during the 10-week stretch leading to the title-winning race, with cameras spending more time showing contenders at homes, at leisure, and in race shops than on the track. The series premiered January 30 — three weeks before the Daytona 500 — and quickly sped into the Netflix Top 10 series list. It also got fans old and new talking excitedly about the sport in a way that had been sorely lacking. Among that talk already is word of a potential second season.
(Credit: Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
“You have to change with the times, right?” says Blaney, who went on to win the championship. “You have to do things that maybe you haven’t normally done in the past, and I think NASCAR has gotten into their heads that we have to continue to evolve.”
Rough Riders
One thing that hasn’t changed — perfectly captured here — is the blend of racing archetypes, each hoping to hoist the 68-pound Bill France Cup at season’s end. Denny Hamlin, the 18-year vet, has won many triumphs but still chases an elusive first championship. Hamlin co-owns the two-driver 23XI Racing team with NBA great Michael Jordan (Bubba Wallace, the Cup’s only Black driver, is on the roster), and his comments about favoring the team he owns over the one he races for make for spirited viewing. And a pair of younger stars have interesting backstories.
Unlike racers who came up driving go-karts as kids, recent Daytona 500 winner William Byron earned his chops online, winning big on the iRacing computer simulator game. Sixth-year Cup driver Ross Chastain is a watermelon farmer whose calm training methods counter his occasional on-track temperament. Joey Logano, 2022 Cup champ, gets screen time too.
While Byron was among the final four drivers competing for the championship, producers knew they’d need to take chances on certain racers whether they’d potentially win or not. “Chastain didn’t have a very successful playoffs, so his arc is really one episode,” says Aaron Cohen, an executive producer on the series. If they did another season, Cohen adds, “I think we’d like to bring in different characters.”
Ready and Willing
Chances are they’d have more takers, given that racers were pleased with how they were portrayed, even down to their grittier sides. Says Chastain, “I just asked them to not make me regret letting them in, and they showed [everything] in a good way.” NASCAR has tried non-racing series such as this before, most recently 2022’s 10-episode Race for the Championship series on USA. “But when it became a Netflix opportunity, that changed things,” Earnhardt says. “[Drivers] knew the potential opportunities this could bring to them down the road would be good.”
Needless to say, Blaney is sold. “Whether you’re a diehard or a new fan, it gives you something to learn,” says the new champ. “And I like the ending.”
NASCAR: Full Speed, Streaming now, Netflix
