NASCAR

Corporate brand

NASCAR is the leading stock-car racing sanctioning organization in the United States and the operator of one of the country’s most prominent motorsports entertainment properties.

Last updated October 14, 2026

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Overview

NASCAR, short for the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, is a United States-based motorsports sanctioning and entertainment organization best known for its premier NASCAR Cup Series. Established in 1948, the organization developed a standardized and commercially coordinated form of stock-car racing from the informal contests that had become popular on dirt tracks and beaches in the American Southeast. Over time, it built a national sporting property encompassing competition rules, race-event approval, broadcast rights, sponsorship programs, licensing, digital media, and driver and team services. The NASCAR brand is anchored by the Cup Series, the highest level of its national competition. Supporting properties include the NASCAR Xfinity Series, which functions as a major developmental and professional touring series, and the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, which uses pickup-style race vehicles and has its own distinct audience and identity. NASCAR also sanctions regional and touring divisions, manages rules and technical standards, and licenses its name and marks for merchandise, video games, media productions, and commercial partnerships. NASCAR’s business model combines sports governance with media and live-event commercialization. It sells or controls important media rights, creates official sponsorship categories, licenses intellectual property, supports track and race promotion, and provides statistics and digital content to fans and partners. Sponsorship is particularly visible: corporate identities appear across cars, uniforms, facilities, broadcasts, digital platforms, and race-weekend experiences. Long-running relationships with consumer, beverage, insurance, automotive, retail, and technology companies have helped make NASCAR one of the most commercially integrated sports brands in the United States. The organization’s geographic center remains the United States, especially the Southeast, although its races, media, licensing, and promotional activity reach broader North American and international audiences. NASCAR has periodically expanded beyond its traditional oval-track image through road-course events, street racing, international exhibition activity, new media distribution, and efforts to attract younger and more diverse fans. The 2023 Chicago Street Race was a notable example of its willingness to stage a premier event in a nontraditional urban setting. NASCAR has also consolidated parts of the infrastructure surrounding its sport. In 2019, NASCAR Holdings completed the approximately $2 billion acquisition of International Speedway Corporation, bringing a large portfolio of major racetracks and related assets under common private ownership. The transaction increased NASCAR’s control over venues, scheduling, and the commercial presentation of race weekends while taking ISC off the public market. The brand’s public positioning emphasizes speed, competition, mechanical ingenuity, accessibility, fan community, and the emotional intensity of race day. Its marketing has increasingly tried to express those characteristics directly rather than relying only on race results or individual driver narratives. Campaigns such as “I Am NASCAR,” the 75th-anniversary creative platform, and “Thank You, Fans” have presented NASCAR as both a historic American sport and a contemporary entertainment experience. NASCAR remains active and influential, although it competes for attention with other motorsports properties, including Formula 1, and continues to adjust its event formats, media strategy, sponsorship proposition, and fan-engagement approach.

History

NASCAR emerged in the postwar American Southeast, where stock-car contests grew out of informal racing traditions involving modified production vehicles. Promoters, drivers, mechanics, and track operators needed common rules, consistent enforcement, and a dependable schedule if the activity was to develop into a sustainable professional sport. The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing was established in 1948 and gradually supplied that organizing structure. During its early decades, NASCAR consolidated a racing format based on heavy, rear-wheel-drive vehicles that retained a visual connection to road cars while receiving extensive competition modifications. The organization’s most important events built a reputation for speed, endurance, close competition, and strong regional loyalties. Daytona Beach became central to the sport’s identity, culminating in the creation of the Daytona International Speedway and the Daytona 500, which became NASCAR’s signature event. NASCAR’s national growth was supported by the increasing popularity of television, the development of larger permanent speedways, and the participation of manufacturers and consumer brands. The sport turned race cars into highly visible commercial platforms: sponsors gained exposure on vehicles, driver uniforms, track signage, broadcasts, and merchandise, while NASCAR obtained funding and promotional reach. The organization expanded its competition ladder and created distinct national series serving top-level, developmental, truck, regional, and touring markets. The Cup Series became NASCAR’s flagship championship and the principal expression of its national brand. The Busch Series, later renamed the Xfinity Series, developed as a significant second-tier competition, while the Craftsman Truck Series introduced a pickup-based format that broadened the sport’s appeal. NASCAR also developed technical rules, safety procedures, inspection systems, officiating practices, licensing programs, media services, and commercial standards across its properties. Ownership and infrastructure evolved alongside the sporting product. International Speedway Corporation, closely connected to NASCAR’s controlling France family interests, operated many important tracks and event facilities. In 2019, NASCAR Holdings agreed to acquire ISC in a transaction valued at approximately $2 billion. The merger closed in October 2019 after shareholder approval. ISC became a wholly owned subsidiary, its public shares were delisted, and NASCAR gained unified control over a substantial group of racetracks and related operations. Jim France became chairman and chief executive officer, Lesa France Kennedy became executive vice chair, and Steve Phelps served as president of the combined organization. In the twenty-first century, NASCAR has faced changing media habits, shifting attendance patterns, competition from other motorsports, and the need to attract new participants and viewers. Its responses have included schedule experimentation, road-course and street-race additions, digital distribution, documentary and entertainment programming, revised sponsorship offerings, and campaigns designed to articulate the sport’s culture more clearly. The organization’s 2023 Chicago Street Race represented a high-profile move into a major city-center setting, while its 75th-anniversary campaign connected historical imagery with a message about future relevance. Today, NASCAR remains a privately held sports property and sanctioning organization. Its activities extend beyond approving races: it manages competition series, media and broadcast relationships, sponsorship and licensing, event presentation, fan communications, data and statistics, and the operation or oversight of important venues. The brand continues to rely on the distinctive combination of mechanical spectacle, driver rivalries, family-oriented race-day culture, and unusually prominent commercial integration that has defined stock-car racing for generations.

2023
NASCAR celebrates its 75th anniversary
[2]NASCAR launches dedicated creative campaign to celebrate 75th anniversarynascar.com
The organization marks its diamond anniversary with special creative work and a season-long effort linking its history to its future.
2023
NASCAR stages the Chicago Street Race
[4]NASCAR launches “Thank You, Fans” campaignnbcsports.com
NASCAR introduces a prominent street-race event in Chicago, expanding its event portfolio beyond conventional permanent oval facilities.
2020
The “I Am NASCAR” campaign launches
[3]NASCAR rolls out swagger in first campaign under the “I Am NASCAR” bannerthedrum.com
A new brand platform presents NASCAR through its attitude, culture, character, and fan identity.
2019
NASCAR completes the ISC merger
[5]ISC completes closing of acquisition by NASCARglobenewswire.com
NASCAR Holdings completes the approximately $2 billion acquisition of International Speedway Corporation, bringing major track assets under common private ownership.
1948
NASCAR is established
[1]NASCAR official websitenascar.com
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is formed to organize and standardize stock-car competition in the United States.

Products and positioning

A distinctly American, fan-accessible motorsports property combining elite stock-car competition, large-scale live events, national media distribution, and deeply integrated sponsorship.

Premier stock-car racing championship
NASCAR Cup Series
The Cup Series is NASCAR’s highest-profile competition and its principal commercial property. It features leading professional teams and drivers competing across a national schedule of superspeedways, intermediate ovals, short tracks, road courses, and selected temporary venues. The series supplies the central content for NASCAR’s broadcast, sponsorship, licensing, and fan-engagement activities.
Second-tier national stock-car series
NASCAR Xfinity Series
The Xfinity Series is a major national touring championship positioned below the Cup Series. It provides a competitive platform for developing drivers, established teams, and sponsors while maintaining its own race schedule, championship structure, broadcast presence, and fan following.
Pickup-truck racing series
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series
The CRAFTSMAN Truck Series uses purpose-built racing trucks styled after pickup vehicles. It is a national-level championship with a distinct visual identity and audience, and it has served as an important competitive and developmental property within NASCAR’s broader series structure.
Regional and touring motorsports competitions
NASCAR Regional and Touring Series
NASCAR sanctions a network of regional and touring competitions that extend the organization’s reach to local tracks and emerging competitors. These series connect grassroots racing with NASCAR’s national ladder and help preserve the sport’s regional presence.
Sports media, licensing, and fan products
NASCAR licensing and media
Beyond live races, NASCAR licenses its name, marks, statistics, imagery, and competition-related intellectual property for merchandise, video games, documentaries, digital products, publications, sponsor activations, and other entertainment formats.

Marketing campaigns

202375th Anniversary Campaign
United States
NASCAR created a group of national advertising spots presenting the organization’s past, present, and future during its 75th anniversary season. The campaign debuted around the Daytona 500 and supported anniversary-season fan engagement.
Outcome. The campaign debuted around the Daytona 500 and supported anniversary-season fan engagement.
Source
2023Thank You, Fans
United States
NASCAR joined with Busch Light, Coca-Cola, GEICO, and Xfinity to recognize supporters during the organization’s 75th anniversary year. The program combined television, social, experiential, and promotional activity. NASCAR joined with Busch Light, Coca-Cola, GEICO, and Xfinity to recognize supporters during the organization’s 75th anniversary year. The program combined television, social, experiential, and promotional activity, including fan stories, surprise-and-delight activity, giveaways, and a sweepstakes connected to NASCAR championship weekend.
Outcome. The campaign included fan stories, surprise-and-delight activity, giveaways, and a sweepstakes connected to NASCAR championship weekend.
Source
2020I Am NASCAR
United States
The campaign repositioned NASCAR around pride, authenticity, attitude, community, and the distinctive character of the sport. It was developed after a broader brand exercise intended to clarify what NASCAR represented to fans and partners. The campaign became a recurring platform for NASCAR brand advertising and seasonal storytelling.
Outcome. The campaign became a recurring platform for NASCAR brand advertising and seasonal storytelling.
Source
20 Is Plenty
United States
NASCAR participated in a road-safety public-service campaign warning everyday drivers against speeding and emphasizing that race-track behavior should not be copied on public roads. The effort used track signage, print, radio, broadcast placements, and public-service advertising.
Outcome. The effort used track signage, print, radio, broadcast placements, and public-service advertising.
Source

Brand decisions

2023
Stage a Chicago street raceStrategy
Background
NASCAR has sought to broaden its event formats and reach audiences beyond traditional permanent oval tracks.
Action taken
The organization introduced a major street-race weekend in Chicago.
Aftermath
The event demonstrated NASCAR’s continued experimentation with urban venues and nontraditional race presentation.
Source
2019
Acquire International Speedway CorporationM&A
Background
NASCAR and International Speedway Corporation had closely connected ownership interests, while ISC owned or operated numerous major venues used by NASCAR. The transaction was presented as a way to consolidate track and sanctioning operations.
Action taken
NASCAR Holdings acquired ISC in a transaction valued at approximately $2 billion. ISC became a wholly owned subsidiary and its public stock was delisted.
Aftermath
NASCAR obtained greater control over key tracks, scheduling, venue operations, and event commercialization while the combined organization remained privately held.
Transaction value. $2 billion (2019)
Source

Recent events

2023
NASCAR marks its 75th anniversary with a multi-part creative campaign[2]NASCAR launches dedicated creative campaign to celebrate 75th anniversarynascar.com
Campaign
NASCAR launched three advertising spots connecting its historical roots, current competition, and future direction during its 75th-anniversary season.
2023
NASCAR launches “Thank You, Fans” campaign[4]NASCAR launches “Thank You, Fans” campaignnbcsports.com
Campaign
NASCAR and four premier partners collaborated on a national campaign celebrating fans, with broadcast advertising, social and experiential content, giveaways, and a championship-weekend sweepstakes.
2020
NASCAR introduces the “I Am NASCAR” brand campaign[3]NASCAR rolls out swagger in first campaign under the “I Am NASCAR” bannerthedrum.com
Campaign
The campaign sought to express NASCAR’s identity through its culture, grit, personality, and fan community rather than focusing solely on race action.
2019
NASCAR completes acquisition of International Speedway Corporation[7]Transaction valuemotorsport.com
M&A
NASCAR Holdings completed its acquisition of International Speedway Corporation, combining the sanctioning body with a major portfolio of racetracks and related businesses under private ownership.
NASCAR promotes road-safety campaign “20 Is Plenty”[6]20 Is Plentyplanetizen.com
Campaign
NASCAR supported a public-service effort encouraging motorists not to imitate high-speed racing on ordinary roads and highlighting the dangers of excessive speed.

Sources19 sources

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