NASCAR chief sets very ambitious goal for himself - 'Must-have sport'
NASCAR chief sets very ambitious goal for himself - 'Must-have sport'
Jarrod Castillo Fri, August 7, 2026 at 10:58 PM UTC
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NASCAR's CEO had an ambitious goal for the sport (Image: Getty)
Steve O'Donnell explained his next ambitious goal - turning the sport into something that has to be seen.
O'Donnell, the NASCAR CEO, has recently been making the rounds as the sport looks to make it more accessible to longtime and newer fans in terms of their enjoyment. NASCAR has received flak from both its drivers, such as Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin, and fans for how certain aspects of the races detract from the experience.
Now, the 57-year-old explained how he and other executives are hoping to make NASCAR a can't-miss event among a certain demographic as they continue to make changes to make the races more interesting.
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O'Donnell said he aimed to make NASCAR a "must-have sport" for broadcasters during an appearance on the "Racin' With The Boys" podcast. In particular, he hoped to make the sport an event fans have to watch every week, rather than just every so often.
He also mentioned that one of the biggest motivators may be reaching out to a younger demographic. "And now with Amazon, Fox, everybody, we're seeing that younger demo grow. ... Now we got to keep them. ... How do we keep them going and keep them interested?" he posited.
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Steve O'Donnell proposed an ambitious goal for NASCAR (Image: YoUTube: @Bussin' With The Boys, Omaha Productions, NASCAR)
"Let's take the momentum and let's work together to grow. The fans are there. The fans want us to succeed and we just got to get out of our own way sometimes and deliver a great product."
Regarding product delivery, O'Donnell made it clear that fans remained at the top of his and other executives' minds. In the days leading up to Iowa, O'Donnell announced that the governing body would adjust how cautions affect the race and slow the pace, leading to a longer-than-necessary race.
"I wanted to take a moment to update you on a new rule change we'll have for this weekend coming into Iowa," the NASCAR CEO began in a clip on social media, "And it stems from what happened in Indy where we've seen all too often a caution comes out before the stage break, we run a number of caution laps, we try and get back green, stage break comes and we're back to caution.
"Long periods of caution laps, not enough green flag racing. We heard you, we want to make a change, so starting this weekend in Iowa, if a caution comes out 10 laps prior to a stage break, that is going to count as the stage break.
"No more back-to-back cautions, no more elongated caution laps, more green flag racing, more action for you, the fans." O'Donnell also thanked fans for their input and said their passion for the sport "has helped us make changes more quickly."
"I want to applaud the industry, they've come together with the Chase new super speedway package in Daytona, looking at some things on the short tracks and now really trying to speed up the cautions. It's not going to be perfect but we're going to learn from this and continue to innovate. So thank you, continue your passion, continue giving us your feedback and I look forward to seeing you at the race this weekend."
Source: “AOL Sports”
