Brad Keselowski urges NASCAR to “Stay true to itself, not lose its fundamentals” amidst concerns over F1’s US Market takeover

Formula 1 has matched NASCAR’s young demographics market share within a couple of years.

Brad Keselowski urges NASCAR to “Stay true to itself, not lose its fundamentals” amidst concerns over F1’s US Market takeover

Brad Keselowski (credits: @RFK/Twitter)

The 2023 season of the NASCAR cup series has produced some of the most competitive races the motorsport world has seen this year.  But the thing that’s concerning the Stock Racing community is the growing popularity of NASCAR’s open-wheel counterpart, Formula 1. The TV ratings for the last 5 races have seen a big drop compared to 2022, while F1 matches the ratings each race week. The anticipation around three races this year in the US is also helping their cause.  

2014 NASCAR Cup series champion Brad Keselowski has expressed his opinion on the growing popularity of F1. He appreciated the efforts by Liberty Media, the US owners of F1, in finding the Americas market and employing the right marketing techniques to grow in the US market.

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“They’re on top of the cycle, candidly. Kudos to them for getting as far as they have here. They recognize the opportunity that North America presents, and with the Liberty Media Group (U.S. ownership), they’ve done a great job leveraging that. It’s still a cycle, though,” Keselowski said.

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The RFK Racing owner driver pointed out that though there are struggles, NASCAR is in good health right now. He said, “The struggles we have are well-documented. That’s not just in NASCAR, but across the planet. Ultimately I think NASCAR has a really compelling story to tell, the racing is as good or better than ever in a lot of ways,”.

He added that in order for NASCAR to be prominent, it needs to stay true to its roots to not go the wayside. Keselowski said, “Generational preferences come and go. I don’t see NASCAR falling by the wayside, I see it is a constant rollercoaster of ups and downs. What’s key is for our sport to stay true to itself, not lose its fundamentals,”.

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Brad Keselowski will fight two F1 world Champions at COTA

Jenson Button
Jenson Button

Keselowski and his fellow Cup drivers are against two established F1 drivers at COTA. 2007 Formula 1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen will drive the No:91 Trackhouse Racing Chevy at the first Road Course race of 2023. The track is special for the Iceman as it marked his final F1 GP win. Raikkonen is no rookie to NASCAR, as he drove for Trackhouse last season and started a Cup and Xfinity race.

The 2009 F1 Jenson Button joins the Finn at COTA. Button will drive Rick Ware Racing’s car at COTA and mark his NASCAR debut.  Jenson also has some experience driving the Next-Gen Cup car, as he has tested the Hendrick Motorsports’ 24 Hours LeMans entry Garage 56. They are also joined by IMSA Champion Jordan Taylor for the race as well.

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