Dana White will meet with NASCAR 'powers that be' in Arizona 'this month'

It isn’t a secret that Dana White enjoys NASCAR. However, it is interesting that White is meeting with the “powers that be” in Arizona. It sounds like a meeting in Phoenix ahead of the NASCAR Championship weekend.

While the championship weekend is the first week of November, Dana White let it be known he will meet with NASCAR leadership. In the past, White had sponsored Trackhouse Racing for a one-off at the Busch Light Clash with his Howler Head whiskey brand.

During his press conference for Dana White’s Contender Series, the UFC CEO talked about his outside ventures. He’s into PBR with his own bull now. Then he mentioned the NASCAR meeting.

“We had fun with the NASCAR thing and I’m actually meeting with NASCAR again, this month,” White said, via MMAWeekly.com.

As far as his goals with that meeting? He’s not sure.

“With NASCAR? I don’t know yet. I’m flying down to Arizona. Me and Lorenzo actually. Me and Lorenzo are flying down to Arizona this month and meeting with all the powers that be of NASCAR and talking to them about some stuff. Because me and Lorenzo are working on a lot of stuff.”

I assume he is referring to Lorenzo Fertitta, the former CEO of UFC. The two businessmen are close friends. To me, it sounds like a serious meeting, perhaps more than a one-off sponsorship on an up-and-coming team’s car. But for now, that’s just speculation.

Dana White always goes big, why not NASCAR?

When it comes to “action sports” there is a lot of crossover appeal between fans. People who like to see drivers push the limits on superspeedways, probably like to see people fight. The adrenaline, excitement, the rush – it is all there, on a base level, at least.

Dana White likes NASCAR and clearly has an interest in getting more involved than he was previously. He joked that Howler Head doesn’t have the money to get into a serious sponsorship situation. However, the UFC does. Especially after the merger with the WWE into TKO Group Holdings.

White does everything big. He’s already trying to get a UFC fight scheduled in the Sphere in Las Vegas.

Let’s not act like the two sports don’t already flirt with one another. If you wanted to and had the means to do so, you could have caught this year’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and then watched Jon Jones embarrass Ciryl Gane in a matter of two minutes.

The NASCAR drivers go to the fight. This isn’t the first time the Las Vegas date for UFC and NASCAR have crossed over. At heart, I’m an eternal optimist. I want this to mean a major investment is coming to the sport.

At the very least, it shows people with lots of power and lots of money are paying attention to NASCAR. And that’s a good thing.