NASCAR and Netflix have just released a new trailer for their latest Drive to Survive style docuseries that follows all the drama from the NASCAR 2023 Cup Series Playoffs, set to be released on 30 January 2024.
Following on from the resounding global success of Netflix’s Formula 1: Drive to Survive, Netflix is seemingly laying down a marker as the number one streaming service for behind-the-scenes content from the world’s biggest sports.
From superstar tennis players such as Nick Kyrgios and a peak behind the curtain of the ATP circuit to golf legends, American football titans and some of the fastest F1 drivers on the planet, the allure of witnessing your favourite sports in a completely fresh and exciting way has gripped audiences all over the world and had a remarkable effect on interest – particularly American – growing exponentially.
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Drive to Survive was released during a time of immeasurable restriction when fans were crying out for live sport and action amid the global pandemic. Season 1 debuted on Netflix in 2019, and since then, the ‘Drive to Survive effect’ has grown incrementally, not only in the U.S. but all over the world.
A record 570,000 viewers watched Season 5 during its first week in 2023 – a 40% jump from Season 4’s debut… and it’s continued to put Formula 1 on the global map.
So why has there never been a sports docuseries centred around a sport that feels so quintessentially American? NASCAR’s commercial success appears, from the outside at least, to exist solely within the U.S., which certainly makes this iconic American sport an interesting subject for Netflix’s latest Drive to Survive style venture.
WATCH The trailer for NASCAR: FULL SPEED below.
But the increased appeal of the American speedway has grown in recent years, expanding across the border to Canada and Mexico, and even now in Europe’s Whelen Euro Series. Netflix will certainly hope to replicate F1’s interest in America’s premier motorsport with NASCAR: FULL SPEED.
“The series will feature exclusive access to drivers and teams, bringing fans behind the scenes at and away from the track while exploring the physical and mental challenges of competing for a championship at the world’s highest level of stock car racing.”
The new 5-part docuseries will start streaming on Netflix on 30 January 2024 and will follow the journey of NASCAR drivers as they battle it out in the Playoffs for the 2023 Cup Series Championship.
The playoffs this year will feature the top 16 drivers on the circuit, with each passing race eliminating the bottom four until the final four drivers are left to race for the Championship in November.
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Part of the appeal of Netflix’s Drive to Survive was the personalities of the drivers on the starting grid; how they deal with the high-pressure environment competing in the world’s fastest race, knowing that they sit in one of the most coveted seats in the sport.
Netflix’s NASCAR series will delve into the captivating personalities within the sport, along with their unique journeys to the pinnacle of NASCAR.
While the producers are certainly eager to unearth another hidden gem, much like F1’s celebrated figure Danny Ric, within NASCAR’s roster of drivers, brace yourself for more than just cougars in the back seat as these racers fearlessly chase victory.