NASCAR: Full Speed Episode 2 Review – Two Toyotas, One Ford and a Rollercoaster of Emotions

For stock car racing fans, the wait for their sport’s very own docuseries is finally over. Seeing the success Formula One received with Drive to Survive, NASCAR got inspired and came out with their very own NASCAR: Full Speed. The series was released on January 30 and, like its F1 counterpart, has captured the dramatic elements of the sport. The second episode of the series delves into the first round of the playoffs and the focus is on Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano, and Denny Hamlin.

NASCAR: Full Speed is a 5-season docu-drama about the playoff stages from the round of 16 to the championship race. Each episode is a little more than 40 minutes long and it promises to show the best and worst of what the playoff contestants had to go through in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season.

The contrasting emotions of Joey Logano and Bubba Wallace

While the episode did have some structural flaws, especially when it comes to pacing, the dramatic aspect of it was very much intact. It opened with an annoyed Bubba Wallace sarcastically taking digs at the media personnel on media day before the first playoff race of the season. Fans have always known Bubba Wallace to be a private man right before a race, and that side of his personality shone through.

The 23XI Racing driver’s arc in the episode took him through all the emotions, from hitting the wall which ruined his race in Darlington to making it through to the round of 12 by the skin of his teeth at the end of the Bristol Night Race. Some people say that the only reason the 30-year-old even made it through was due to Joey Logano’s retirement.

The Team Penske man too had quite an interesting storyline in the episode. His early days as a racer were shown, and it was made evident that Joey Logano was a popular name in NASCAR even before he raced in the competition. The 33-year-old’s expertise in dealing with pressure and the aggressive nature of the sport was perfectly depicted, but the part that fans will take the most interest in is his run in the round of 16.

It’s no secret that the Team Penske star had a torrid time in the playoffs, getting knocked out in the round of 16. He became the first defending champion to ever be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. Logano kept his famous smile despite his crash at Bristol, but his disappointment was evident in the words he said and Netflix did a good job of presenting that in a nuanced manner.

However, the main star of the show was none other than the best driver to never win the Cup Series, yet. Which is, of course, Denny Hamlin. Both sides [driver and the team owner] of the 43-year-old were explored very well in the episode. 

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NASCAR: Full Speed hits the mark in depicting Denny Hamlin’s conflict

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The main angle that Netflix focused on while showing Hamlin’s story was the issues with his pit crew leading up to the first round of 16 race at Darlington. The emotions were very well shown as one of the standout scenes was that of Hamlin quietly sitting in his car after finishing P25 in the first playoff race. He led the most laps that race, but an error by his pit crew cost him the race.

For the second playoff race at Kansas, the focus fell on Denny Hamlin, the team owner. He was seen visiting the 23XI Racing shop where he took a keen interest in architecture. But the most impressive thing that Netflix managed to capture was the conflict in Hamlin’s heart when his driver Tyler Reddick finished P1 in Kansas, ahead of his #11.

It all came full circle in the last round of 16 race at Bristol, where Denny Hamlin and his team finally got everything right and secured a fantastic victory. The episode closed in a way the driver of the #11 would be proud of, with him standing on the Bristol track saying, “I beat your favorite driver.”

The episode was not perfect, but the important thing is that Netflix did a fantastic job of capturing the emotions of the 3 main drivers featured in it. It seems like NASCAR has hit the mark with what they were expecting out of the series and the mass reaction would be interesting to see.

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