Netflix will release the five-part documentary “NASCAR: Full Speed” on January 30, 2024 – Nine drivers of the 2023 Playoffs are in focus
Netflix has kept numerous viewers glued to their screens with its Formula 1 documentary “Drive to Survive”. The look behind the scenes of the premier class has been a cult hit among Formula 1 fans since 2019, and now the streaming service wants to cause a sensation with a five-part documentary about the NASCAR series. The focus is on nine drivers who battled for the title in the playoffs of the US stock car series in the 2023 season
NASCAR has long been a topic at Netflix: “Race: Bubba Wallace” has already provided an insight into the career of Bubba Wallace, who competes in the NASCAR series. However, the NASCAR sitcom starring “King of Queens” star Kevin James was canceled after just one season. With “NASCAR: Full Speed”, there is now a new attempt to put the spotlight on the most popular motorsport series in the USA.
Netflix has so far only released a short trailer and named the nine drivers who will be featured in the series. The spectacle, the show and the sound of the V8 cars are the focus of the first few seconds of the trailer, after which it is all about the high risk that the drivers take with speeds above 300 kilometers per hour and slipstream battles on the superspeedways.
Private and sporting insights?
“There’s a chance of getting hurt or even dying, and they do it anyway,” says the trailer. “Imagine what tough racers they must be.” However, the short clip not only shows races, accidents and the spectacle on the racetrack, but also private moments of the drivers. Their wives and partners also have their say.
NASCAR champion Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick are the main characters in the series. Alexa De Leon, Reddick’s wife, makes her first appearance in the trailer and says: “I pray to God to protect him.” The drivers’ private rooms are also shown, as well as their families, including their children.
All this suggests that the Netflix documentary will not only be a sporting retelling of the 2023 title fight, but will also shed light on the private side of the drivers and life as a NASCAR driver. There will be five episodes in total, each 45 minutes long. Like the Wallace documentary, NASCAR: Full Speed will also be shown in Germany, the trailer is already available with German subtitles
Drivers are portrayed as tough dogs
The series is produced by Connor Schell (30 for 30), Aaron Cohen (The Lionheart), NASCAR official Ben Kennedy, Tim Clark, Matt Summers, Tally Hair and NASCAR driver and commentator Dale Earnhardt Jr. who has been voted the most popular driver in the field 15 times in his career – only once less than record holder Bill Elliott, whose son Chase won the Cup title in 2020 and has been named the most popular driver six times in his career.
NASCAR Vice President and Chief Digital Officer Tim Clark says: “This is the most competitive motorsport in the world. People get to see the fierce battles and the aggression of the drivers up close, but also the skill of the drivers – and what they can accomplish in a race car going 200 miles per hour against 38 other race cars over a 400-mile distance. “
