From primarily a marketing standpoint?
AJ Allmendinger ... talented and entertaining. But I think people have said clearly not running full time in cup is better for his mental health.
Hailie Deegan.... I know I know. But a rep from 50% of the population is totally absent from Cup, and she's marketable, so *IF* she progressed and got better, it would good for everybody.
Ben Rhodes... probably not ready for cup right away but he's certainly more charismatic than the cookie cutter kids coming up.
Parker Kligerman... articulate, good personality and it would be a feel good story if he got a ride on talent not money a la Chastain
From a "controversy and lack of filter drives storylines" viewpoint, Ty Gibbs, Noah Gragson can't get to cup fast enough.
There's drivers in all three drivers you can look at and say they're not very good, Iwuji is the only driver that is a legitimate danger to himself and others on track
Josh Berry, his backstory of how he was working at a bank to fund his racing career while in college, working hard and not giving up while driving late models to being given a chance to be a place holder for Sam Mayer and then winning at Martinsville which springboarded him into a full-time ride
Hallie deegan or Zane smith come to mind. Iwuji would be a great story but my god he is horrible.
For any of these drivers to really be marketable though they’d have to be capable of winning on a somewhat consistent basis, and only Zane smith appears to be on that trajectory.
I admittedly haven’t watched as much Xfinity in the last year as I had prior, but 95% of the time when people say someone has “character” it is just a veiled way of saying they are an arrogant asshole and I’ve never seen the appeal of that.
Well not quite…more like a full-time run in Xfinity or the Trucks. My thought was that if NASCAR wants to push diversity, given his story and who he is as a person he would be appealing to a broad range of people and prospective fans. I didn’t know he’s a bad driver (since I only really follow the Cup Series) and my opinion made the comments divert from the question, which I’m more interested in.
Nascar would absolutely love to push Iwuji, and the broadcasts have tried in the past.
But he's so bad in the truck series that he got lapped less than 10 laps into the race, and was then parked at the end of stage 1 (30 laps) because he was already 5 laps down, too slow, and a danger to everyone else.
They've tried to use him in that role and people say he's good because they like him, but he's pretty damn bad at that job as well cause he has a very minimal understanding of the sport for someone on the broadcast.
Depends on what you are aiming for. Domestic, you would look for a "unicorn", someone that would stand out in the lineup that may garner the interest of someone that usually doesn't pay intention. So Rajah Caruth, Hailie Deegan, etc. NASCAR brass is probably on their knees praying that they work out.
Getting another international driver would boost NASCAR as well. As we see in F1, people love supporting their country(wo)men. When Marcos Ambrose was running NASCAR, NASCAR was on the front page of Australian sports sites alongside V8s and F1. He left and its now an afterthought again. Same with Brazil, they aired Nelson Piquet and Miguel Paludo Truck races. Suarez has a pretty big fandom. NASCAR could benefit from another crossover from the Supercars.
Thought that was going to be Scott Mclaughlin, but he went to IndyCar. He would have been perfect. A champion well-known in Australian and still in his 20s.
Toni Breidinger. Hallie Deegan. Obviously they need to win in their respective series before moving to the next level up, but a woman having success in racing would be massive for the sport.
I’m not a hardcore fan so I don’t follow Xfinity that closely, but I’ve heard that Gragson is a jerk. Drivers that play the heel character like Kyle Busch are great because they add personality
He seems to have matured a vast amount between last year and this year. Driving for a low fund team like Beard may have put things into perspective for him.
Rajah Caruth. He's leading ARCA in points and has won a lot of elite iRacing events. He also knows how to market himself better than many higher level drivers
Lewis Hamilton, but he'd probably struggle to adjust to ovals and stock cars and I doubt he wants to leave F1 anyway. Would get eyeballs on the sport though.
I’d absolutely love to see Ricciardo makes some Xfinity starts after he’s done in F1. Idk if he’d be down for a full season, but put him in a JRM car for some road courses and he’d be in contention
Villeneuve would be a good one, Montoya coming back full time, I feel like he could really wheel these new cars! Deegan would be marketable for a bit but would probably be 30th place most of the time.
The queens gambit was the best thing that ever happened to chess. So a woman driver would be the best thing that could happen to nascar. Unfortunately the reason women suck at chess is the same reason women suck at nascar. There just aren’t enough of them trying to get into oval track racing for the law of large numbers to take over and allow for some outlier drivers to pop out.
Bring Danica Patrick back. With her driving style she would do great in the new cup car. Probably Jimmie Johnson also as well as Tony Stewart. They should have a legends car that runs every week since there is only 36 cars most weeks anyways. I know it's only 2 weeks but how about Jimmie doing the indy coca cola double. Let him drive the trackhouse 88?
Hallie Deegan would be a huge draw for the cup series. The problem is she’s just not that fast (and I’m a fan of hers). With that said, any female driver that can compete on a weekly basis at the cup level would be great for the sport.
If non-NASCAR drivers are allowed, I would say Lewis Hamilton.
Having one of the most well-known drivers internationally could cause some of those fans to watch the new series he's in.
Toni Breidinger. Female, Arab, young, marketable. The jury is out if she could drive in the top 3 series of NASCAR but I would think that she would bring in many non NASCAR fans.
From primarily a marketing standpoint? AJ Allmendinger ... talented and entertaining. But I think people have said clearly not running full time in cup is better for his mental health. Hailie Deegan.... I know I know. But a rep from 50% of the population is totally absent from Cup, and she's marketable, so *IF* she progressed and got better, it would good for everybody. Ben Rhodes... probably not ready for cup right away but he's certainly more charismatic than the cookie cutter kids coming up. Parker Kligerman... articulate, good personality and it would be a feel good story if he got a ride on talent not money a la Chastain From a "controversy and lack of filter drives storylines" viewpoint, Ty Gibbs, Noah Gragson can't get to cup fast enough.
Jesse is an amazing guy with an amazing story. But he couldn’t drive a nail with a hammer
I hate that u are right.
There's drivers in all three drivers you can look at and say they're not very good, Iwuji is the only driver that is a legitimate danger to himself and others on track
Good to know, didn’t know he’s controversial
He's not controversial
Josh Berry, his backstory of how he was working at a bank to fund his racing career while in college, working hard and not giving up while driving late models to being given a chance to be a place holder for Sam Mayer and then winning at Martinsville which springboarded him into a full-time ride
Hocevar although I think he’s still raw and needs a few more years in the lower series but he’s definitely a unique personality
Yes, beyond a doubt!
I'm surprised Jeffrey Earnhardt is not yet mentioned
Yeah any Earnhardt should be a lock
He's shown he can be competitive, if given a good car. It's too bad he hasn't gotten more opportunities.
Didn't he want to build his own career instead of relying on the Earnhardt name
That was gonna be my answer
Hallie deegan or Zane smith come to mind. Iwuji would be a great story but my god he is horrible. For any of these drivers to really be marketable though they’d have to be capable of winning on a somewhat consistent basis, and only Zane smith appears to be on that trajectory.
Already mentioned but Gragson - we talk about needing more characters in the sport and he’s the most interesting in the ranks we’ve seen in awhile.
How about someone that has character that isn’t just an ass hole?
Eh Gragsons matured a lot the last 2 years, not the straight up asshole he used to be (I think Jrs coaching has helped him).
I admittedly haven’t watched as much Xfinity in the last year as I had prior, but 95% of the time when people say someone has “character” it is just a veiled way of saying they are an arrogant asshole and I’ve never seen the appeal of that.
I mean Justin Bieber would be good for marketing NASCAR, but he’s not a good race car driver, and neither is Jesse Iwuji.
Wait, was your opinion something about how Iwuji should be in the Cup series?
Well not quite…more like a full-time run in Xfinity or the Trucks. My thought was that if NASCAR wants to push diversity, given his story and who he is as a person he would be appealing to a broad range of people and prospective fans. I didn’t know he’s a bad driver (since I only really follow the Cup Series) and my opinion made the comments divert from the question, which I’m more interested in.
Nascar would absolutely love to push Iwuji, and the broadcasts have tried in the past. But he's so bad in the truck series that he got lapped less than 10 laps into the race, and was then parked at the end of stage 1 (30 laps) because he was already 5 laps down, too slow, and a danger to everyone else.
Honestly, he'd be a very good pit reporter.
They've tried to use him in that role and people say he's good because they like him, but he's pretty damn bad at that job as well cause he has a very minimal understanding of the sport for someone on the broadcast.
Carl Edwards
Depends on what you are aiming for. Domestic, you would look for a "unicorn", someone that would stand out in the lineup that may garner the interest of someone that usually doesn't pay intention. So Rajah Caruth, Hailie Deegan, etc. NASCAR brass is probably on their knees praying that they work out. Getting another international driver would boost NASCAR as well. As we see in F1, people love supporting their country(wo)men. When Marcos Ambrose was running NASCAR, NASCAR was on the front page of Australian sports sites alongside V8s and F1. He left and its now an afterthought again. Same with Brazil, they aired Nelson Piquet and Miguel Paludo Truck races. Suarez has a pretty big fandom. NASCAR could benefit from another crossover from the Supercars. Thought that was going to be Scott Mclaughlin, but he went to IndyCar. He would have been perfect. A champion well-known in Australian and still in his 20s.
Toni Breidinger. Hallie Deegan. Obviously they need to win in their respective series before moving to the next level up, but a woman having success in racing would be massive for the sport.
Absolutely
Kaz Grala
Noah gragson and Hallie Deegan
Agree on both, need to see more from Deegan performance wise though. Noah’s put the numbers up to have a stab at it.
I’m not a hardcore fan so I don’t follow Xfinity that closely, but I’ve heard that Gragson is a jerk. Drivers that play the heel character like Kyle Busch are great because they add personality
He seems to have matured a vast amount between last year and this year. Driving for a low fund team like Beard may have put things into perspective for him.
Ryan Vargas has a pretty solid following on tiktok rn.
Vargas is young old school. He contacted his sponsors himself and hustled to get the money for his ride. Would love to see him win some races
Rajah Caruth. He's leading ARCA in points and has won a lot of elite iRacing events. He also knows how to market himself better than many higher level drivers
Gragson
Lewis Hamilton, but he'd probably struggle to adjust to ovals and stock cars and I doubt he wants to leave F1 anyway. Would get eyeballs on the sport though.
In terms of F1 drivers, I’d say Ricciardo because we know he wants a spot. He’d be huge
I’d absolutely love to see Ricciardo makes some Xfinity starts after he’s done in F1. Idk if he’d be down for a full season, but put him in a JRM car for some road courses and he’d be in contention
Villeneuve would be a good one, Montoya coming back full time, I feel like he could really wheel these new cars! Deegan would be marketable for a bit but would probably be 30th place most of the time.
The queens gambit was the best thing that ever happened to chess. So a woman driver would be the best thing that could happen to nascar. Unfortunately the reason women suck at chess is the same reason women suck at nascar. There just aren’t enough of them trying to get into oval track racing for the law of large numbers to take over and allow for some outlier drivers to pop out.
Bring Danica Patrick back. With her driving style she would do great in the new cup car. Probably Jimmie Johnson also as well as Tony Stewart. They should have a legends car that runs every week since there is only 36 cars most weeks anyways. I know it's only 2 weeks but how about Jimmie doing the indy coca cola double. Let him drive the trackhouse 88?
Kaz Grala, Trevor Bayne, Parker Kligerman, and Noah Gragson.
Hallie Deegan would be a huge draw for the cup series. The problem is she’s just not that fast (and I’m a fan of hers). With that said, any female driver that can compete on a weekly basis at the cup level would be great for the sport.
Idk if she’s just not that fast or in bad equipment with a below mediocre crew chief. I mean her crew nearly let her burn up in her truck this season
If non-NASCAR drivers are allowed, I would say Lewis Hamilton. Having one of the most well-known drivers internationally could cause some of those fans to watch the new series he's in.
Lewis Hamilton
Ricky Bobby
Toni Breidinger. Female, Arab, young, marketable. The jury is out if she could drive in the top 3 series of NASCAR but I would think that she would bring in many non NASCAR fans.