Veteran Cup Champions urge NASCAR to go beyond the US borders after Chicago Street Race success
NASCAR officials have revealed that they are ready to go international even as soon as 2024.
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Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick (Credits: NASCAR.com)
NASCAR’s inaugural Street Race in Chicago was a huge success in achieving all the goals set for the event despite the rain being a major buzz killer. Ringer Shae Van Gisbergen winning race in the Trackhouse Project 91 car helped the sport to fast track the growth of global interest, which it had regained since the Garage 56’s 24 Hours of Lemans debut.
After successfully hosting a Cup race in a major city like Chicago, the sanctioning body is confident they could do the same in multiple other locations, including international venues. Gaining international attention has always been among the objectives s of Next-Gen cars. Now Cup championship-winning veteran such as Kevin Harvick has backed the sports effort to go global.
The 2014 Cup champion pointed out that NASCAR has now proven to host successful events anywhere after Chicago, and he sees some exciting scheduling opportunities. He told the media in Atlanta, “It was a great event and promoted really well. And so I think it just gives you a lot of flexibility to go and do things in the future at really any city that that you want to that’ll have you.”
The 2012 Cup champion and RFK Racing co-owner Brad Keselowski sees opportunities in an entirely different continent after Chicago. He said, “The biggest thing for me is last week opens up International more than anything else… And if we were to go race internationally, specifically on a different continent, I think we prove that there’s an opportunity to do that.”
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Joey Logano and Kyle Busch are ready for international experiments
Logano and Busch, the only multiple Cahgmpions who are active in the cup scene, see potential beyond the brooders and are open to racing in unique locations. The teammates turned rivals are well aware of the opportunities that are there outside of the country.
RCR driver Kyle Busch is of the belief that NASCAR has opened up a new playbook by successfully hosting the Chicago race, and opportunities are there in American continents or beyond. He said, “I feel like there’s definitely the potential for that — whether it’s North America, South America, even a different continent. I think there are some opportunities that are out there.”
Team Penske’s Joey Logano said he is ready to go anywhere because he believes NASCAR can make it happen. He said, “You tell racers you’re going racing somewhere, they’ll figure out how to get stuff there. I feel like you can put these people in any industry, and they will figure out ways to succeed. After seeing that, let’s go anywhere.”
NASCAR has previously raced in US neighbors Canada and Mexico, with successful regional stock car racing events under the NASCAR branding. These countries also have a solid fan base and track suitable for point-paying races. The sport has also hosted exhibition races in Japan in the late 90s and has opportunities to return there. Australia is a good option as well for NASCAR.
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Justin P Joy
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