Jeff Gordon Warns NASCAR Against Investing Too Much into the Series Going International

Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon makes his case for the need for the sport to make some schedule changes before having more international races.

Jeff Gordon Warns NASCAR Against Investing Too Much into the Series Going International

Jeff Gordon (Via @JeffGordonWeb/X)

The NASCAR Cup garage was at Mexico City this weekend for the series debut at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, for the Cupa n Xfinity race weekend. It was a massive success, with Daniel Saurez and Shane van Gisbergen producing entertaining events for the passionate race fans. But despite the success, Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon has some concerns about international races.

The sanctioning body has been working on going international for years, with the Next-Gen car being more suitable to these explorations. Going into the international race market cost a lot of investment on resources, and it also demands major changes to the current Cup racing schedule that features 38 races, including the exhibition events.

Jeff Gordon is confident that NASCAR is capable of making impact in the international race markets in Europe and Asia, with the new generation of drivers and cars. But before doing that he urges NASCAR on working on the demanding schedule and give the teams more than just one weekend off from racing.

I want to go everywhere in the world that I think that NASCAR can make an impact, whether be England, Germany, South America, Australia — you name the list… But we have to figure out the schedule before we do too much of this. Right now, a 38-race schedule, this year we’ve had one weekend off for the entire year, we can’t do this.

Jeff Gordan said via Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez Cup weekend media session.

Going into Mexico or Canda isn’t the same as going into other international venues for NASCAR, as it demands more resource allocation and manpower. They also can’t get away with hosting exhibition events like they did in Japan in the past, as the teams won’t be able to sacrifice their off-season brake to have a long international weekend.

If we’re talking about really, truly going overseas, that’s a whole another discussion. When we went to Japan, that was in December. You’re not going to get a lot of popular votes of a long season of 38 races and then go into our off-season on top of that.

Jeff Gordon added.

Jeff Gordon shares his thoughts on NASCAR’s plans to attract young fans

In the same media session, the Hendrick Motorsports Vice President was asked about NASCAR moves to attract more young fans, as the current base is getting older. The increasing social media presence and streaming races, via Amazon Prime, is part of that changes. Gordon also highlighted how the new iRacing game will also benefit them.

Jeff Gordon
Jeff Gordon (Via IMAGO)

We’re streaming. We’re on Amazon Prime. I think that’s another way that’s going to bring in more fans, younger fans — different fans that have never thought about NASCAR before…We’ve got new gaming software that’s coming out with iRacing.

Jeff Gordon said.

One reason behind this drop in fanfare is the fact that the young generation is having a different life experience regarding cars, hence needs to have more track experience will help them to relate with NASCAR. iRacing is the best way to do that, as the driver will love to experience the simulations in the real life.

Kids are not driving cars as much as they once did. They’re not working on cars like they once did. That’s why I think the experience of the track is so important — and in making sure that they’re there, having a good time playing corn hole or video games or getting on simulators, and then feeling the energy of the race.

Jeff Gordon added.

The comments from the NASCAR veteran shows the sport is currently on a good path towards attracting more fans from the around the world and from different demographics. It would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout for the sport in the coming years regarding fans and international races.

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