Documentaries about the illustrious world of automobile racing are not a new concept, but never have we gotten such unprecedented access to the life of a NASCAR driver on the scale of Netflix’s new series. “NASCAR: Full Speed” will be releasing at the end of this month on the streaming service, and we’re excited to learn about what it takes to be competitive in one of the most popular spectator sports in the United States. We aren’t talking about the ballad of anyone here – we’re talking non-fiction, real-life action and knowledge about the day-to-day life of NASCAR drivers.
“NASCAR: Full Speed” will feature exclusive and extensive access to a range of drivers and teams, headlined by Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Joey Logano, and Tyler Reddick. The series will document the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs and championship race, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. is one of its executive producers. Aside from their lives on the track, audiences will get a look into racers’ private lives, training routines, and families in this series.
Netflix’s “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” docuseries was first released in 2019, and is widely credited with reversing the trend of declining viewership that the sport faced in the 2010s, especially in America where it helped bring new audiences in. “Drive to Survive” was a hit series that effectively offered viewers a similar experience to the one that “NASCAR: Full Speed” will offer.
As our very own Elizabeth Blackstock beautifully reported in 2022, the human element of racing doesn’t always come across during the races themselves – a lot of the work is put in behind the scenes, and a lot of the personal relationships between competitors and among racers’ families is not usually visible to the public in this capacity. This new show should bring an intriguing human element to a sport that’s often viewed by the uninitiated as a bunch of rednecks turning left.
“NASCAR: Full Speed” will be a five-part series, and the episodes will drop on January 30. This is gonna be good.