NASCAR President Steve Phelps explains balancing entertainment versus sport

Steve Phelps wants NASCAR fans to get everything they want when taking in a race. While speaking to Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic, Phelps, the president of NASCAR was asked how difficult it is to balance entertainment versus sport.

“That’s a really good question. To me, as long as you don’t cross the line where it’s just not authentic and it’s gimmicky — and that line is probably different for everyone,” Phelps said. “With that said, we are about entertainment, and we need to entertain our race fans. We need to have compelling racing and a compelling product on the racetrack.

“That’s what they’ve come to expect from us, and that’s what they’re going to get moving forward. So again, whether there’s a tweak to it or a wholesale change or nothing, we’ll make sure that we are looking through that lens of entertainment versus making sure we are being authentic and true to who we are as a sport.”

Steve Phelps talks 2024 NASCAR season and new race locations

The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season had its share of “compelling racing,” with three of the top seven closest finishes in history. ” I think that’s really a testament to how hard our competition guys have worked with our race teams, with our (manufacturers),” Phelps stated. “We talk a lot about collaboration and having 18 different winners from 10 organizations, and that speaks volumes to what is coming out of that collaboration and working together and from that Next Gen car.”

The 2025 season will be a little different as there will be a race in Mexico City. Additionally, the exhibition Clash race will take place at Bowman Gray after being in Los Angeles for the last three years.

“Bowman Gray and Mexico City are two really cool things. One is a nod to the history of the sport in Bowman Gray, and one that is a nod to the future of the sport, which is racing outside of our borders and doing things in front of fans like we have at the Chicago Street Race and the Clash at the Coliseum,” Phelps explained. “The race in Mexico City will bring new eyeballs, strong television ratings and all those things are good, and we’ll continue to see that in ’26 and beyond.”