“If you’re a race car driver,” narrates sports journalist Marty Smith in the teaser for NASCAR: Full Speed, “you have the opportunity to be hurt — or killed. And you do it anyway. Think about what a badass that is.”
And in the world of NASCAR, being a badass is only the beginning. The new five-part doc series tracks the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs and championship race, following drivers as they compete for one of the most storied titles in motorsports. The series — produced by Word + Pictures and NASCAR Studios, with executive producers Connor Schell, Aaron Cohen, Ben Kennedy, Tim Clark, Matt Summers, Tally Hair, and legendary driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. — explores the physical, mental, and emotional challenges of competing in one of the world’s most challenging and dangerous sports.
“This is the most competitive form of motorsport on the planet,” NASCAR Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer Tim Clark tells Tudum. “People are going to see it up close, and see the beating and the banging and the aggressiveness of the drivers, but also the skill of the drivers — and what they’re able to do with a race car [driving at] 200 miles an hour, around 38 other race cars, hitting the same spot for 400 miles.”
Kyle Larson has had 17 wins and a championship since joining Hendrick Motorsports in 2021.
Denny Hamlin has 50 NASCAR Cup wins so far, and has won the Daytona 500 three times.
Bubba Wallace drives No. 23 Toyota Camry XSE for 23XI Racing, owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan.
The series follows nine NASCAR drivers, each of them with different motivations to win it all — but all at the top of their game.
“We’re badasses,” Trackhouse driver Ross Chastain tells Tudum. “This sport has a whole garage full of the best mechanics, the best engineers, the best everything. This is it.”
Ryan Blaney competes in the NASCAR Cup series full time, driving the No. 12 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Team Penske.
In an upcoming episode of You Can’t Make This Up, Clark tells host Rebecca Lavoie that the show captures some truly never before seen moments of the drivers off the track, too.
“It’s few and far between that you get to see what some of these drivers are doing when they don’t have a helmet on, or when they’re not behind the wheel,” Clark says. “It’s really interesting to see what’s happening in their day-to-day lives.”
The NASCAR: Full Speed cast includes:
NASCAR: Full Speed premieres on Netflix on Jan. 30.
