NASCAR: Full Speed Is Fulfilling Its Objective of Building Up Its Audience, Like Formula 1: Drive to Survive

This year, NASCAR teamed up with Netflix to launch a brand new docuseries. This series is called NASCAR: Full Speed, which boasts a similar theme as Formula 1: Drive to Survive. While NASCAR has always been popular in the United States of America, it looks like the docuseries has propelled it to new heights.

When Formula 1: Drive to Survive debuted, it brought with it a new wave of fans to the sport. Many who would not have heard of the sport were now big fans. Obviously, NASCAR and Netflix were hoping that lightning would strike twice and the sport would earn more fans. The stock car racing series has always appealed to traditional fans who are fairly loyal. However, it wouldn’t hurt to introduce the sport to the next generation of fans.

How big is the influence of NASCAR: Full Speed?

According to a recent study from Social Blade, NASCAR experienced a massive social media explosion. For NASCAR, it gained 2,484 new Twitter followers, 53,298 new Instagram followers, and 5,543 new Facebook followers. All of this took place within a week of the docuseries’ release. Guess it only helped that the series was featured in the Top 10 on Netflix in the United States and a few other countries.

This has not only affected the main NASCAR social media account but the NASCAR drivers as well. Admittedly, not all NASCAR drivers saw a spike in their social media numbers. Only the ones who were featured in the docuseries saw a rise in their Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. This includes Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, and Christopher Bell.

In addition to that, Joey Logano, William Byron, Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, and Ryan Blaney also saw hikes in their follower count.

Denny Hamlin saw the biggest jump in his Instagram follower count by 8,125 in a week. The Instagram follower counts saw the biggest jump for every featured driver. For Hamlin in particular, he undoubtedly emerged as the star of the show. Considering that he is 43 years old and has yet to win a Cup Series title, the story practically writes itself.

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Could the series benefit NASCAR as Drive to Survive did for F1?

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If that happens, it can be a big boon for the sport. First and foremost, a platform like Netflix has a really wide reach, with millions of subscribers. Additionally, there is potential for growth outside American soil, as the docuseries is available to watch overseas. In other words, people outside the United States will be able to watch the series and that would be their introduction to NASCAR. The next step from there would be for the interested viewers to check out the races to see what it is all about.

After all, Formula 1: Drive to Survive more or less operated similarly. Owing to this, many F1 drivers and F1 personnel became fan favorites and almost achieved a bit of a cult status. Take former Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner as an example. Drive to Survive arguably turned him into an overnight star and an internet sensation, so when he was let go by the team this year, many fans were dismayed.

On the bright side, at least they will get to see him one last time when this season of Drive to Survive drops.

READ MORE: Why ‘NASCAR: Full Speed’ May Not be as Intrusive as ‘Formula One: Drive to Survive’?