r/NASCAR • u/East-Independent6778 • 3d ago
Dutch GP Venue Parts Ways With F1 for Potential NASCAR or IndyCar Deal
https://www.newsweek.com/sports/racing/dutch-gp-venue-parts-ways-f1-potential-nascar-indycar-deal-211821820
u/Milla4Prez66 3d ago
If NASCAR ever decides to try their top series in Europe, I don’t see the Netherlands being first but you never know.
19
u/AnchorDrown Queen 2d ago
I mean…there’s exactly one and only one way they do it.
4
u/Milla4Prez66 2d ago
I don’t see NASCAR doing a whole weekend overseas for a driver that doesn’t compete in NASCAR. The teams complained about the costs of going to Mexico City, the costs and logistics of the Netherlands would be too much.
8
u/frigginjensen Bubba Wallace 2d ago
Red Bull Ring in Austria would be perfect for NASCAR. Long straights into 90 degree corners with lots of runoff, imagine the first corner at Watkins Glen, but then there’s 2 more.
1
8
13
21
u/Droppin-Hammer46 van Gisbergen 3d ago
You’re looking a venue that is 6 hours ahead of the east coast. So a 4:00-5:00 time slot works. But that’s barring any weather issues.
19
6
u/AnchorDrown Queen 2d ago
IndyCar makes way more sense considering how much of the field is European.
1
u/boostleaking 2d ago
With how tricky they're having to negotiate to get a Mexico GP going for them, I can't see them going to Zanvoort unless some billionaire local wants to see Indycar in the Netherlands and gets their company to pay for Indycar's entire logistics costs.
9
u/Handsome_Grizzly Bubba Wallace 2d ago
I could potentially see the NASCAR Euro Series trying some races there to test the waters on the appeal of the sport.
3
u/minyhumancalc Bowman 2d ago
I have to wonder whats NASCAR's plan to operate internationally. Sure, getting your name out there is one thing, but NASCAR is a series that typically runs late Sunday night or Monday morning for most of the world, so viewership will always be fleeting. At least somewhere like Interlagos, the timezone matches up such that Brazilians could consistently watch the series going forward. So I dont really see an advertising incentive for going to Europe.
So if not for brand awareness, the only reason to go is to make a monetary profit off that race. That seems difficult given the financial cost of shipping 36 cars overseas + crew and equipment unless a track upfront a lot of money.... which wouldn't make sense for the track unless they can generate enough ticket revenue for a series that is not very well known across Europe.
Maybe it is to promote NASCAR Euro, but I dont even see that being super successful. It would be cool for NASCAR expand globally (or do a race across the oceans like when they went to Japan), but i dont see anyway it is financially viable for any parties
5
u/BeefInGR 2d ago
There's a couple things...
Timezones: NASCAR races normally start about 7-9 pm for the majority of Europe. Since Football (soccer) is mostly a Saturday or early Sunday thing, they could have a decent audience weekly if they grow. Most F1 races are set to run during British afternoon's and unfortunately BTCC isn't as popular as it once was.
Travel: Travel costs would be significantly less expensive than shipping to Asia/Oceania. Either a fleet of airplanes taking specially designed crates (like F1 and MotoGP) or on Intermodal barges. Despite the current political differences between the US and EU as of right now, customs can be expedited. As well, a significant amount of Europeans speak at minimum basic English.
Costs: This is a perfect B2B business deal. NASCAR is also the only motorsports series besides F1 who generates enough income to do something like covering shipping and airfare. A European round would likely take the place of a street circuit, which would open up $2-5M USD in NASCAR's budget to cover costs.
3
u/Dry-Membership3867 3d ago
My two worry’s with this is that one, due to time zone differences, this race would have very low viewership if put on tv. Maybe if on prime, it’d be better. But I definitely could see this being a ratings hit for the series if they came. And two, that people just wouldn’t show up due to the stereotypes given to NASCAR by some overseas as a “redneck” or “only turn left” series.
That being said, I’d love to see this happen, though I think there are better tracks to host in my opinion
9
u/Spinebuster03 2d ago
Get Max verstappen to run it and you won’t have any viewership problems regardless of when it’s playing
3
u/Dry-Membership3867 2d ago
The problem would be one, would he even want to run it if he can. And two, if so, Red Bull is affiliated with a Chevy team in NASCAR, and Max would be with Ford in F1. Would that create issues
8
u/Spinebuster03 2d ago
Red bull isn’t associated with trackhouse it’s a personal sponsor for SVG and zilisch
4
u/Dry-Membership3867 2d ago
That’s exactly what I mean. And with how petty both Chevy and Ford are, they wouldn’t like it at all
3
u/Spinebuster03 2d ago edited 2d ago
Ford and red bull will do whatever Max tells them to do or he will just call Toto
1
2
u/CartoonistAnnual4672 Chase Elliott 2d ago
max can just run for whatever ford team he wants and redbull can just sponsor that car
3
u/Ianthin1 2d ago
No promises Max is still with Red Bull by the time anything serious is announced. If Red Bull misses on the 2026 regs he is likely to bail for a contender.
2
u/Helpful-Relation7037 Bubba Wallace 2d ago
Zandvoort? Not sure a stock car could even make a full lap around a track that tight
1
u/smmate 3d ago
Zandvoort is my favorite track on the F1 schedule, I love the banked parts
2
u/frigginjensen Bubba Wallace 2d ago
It looks like it wpuld be fun to drive. I’m not sure it would work for stock cars. It barely works for F1.
3
u/medemey 2d ago
Indycar has a Dutch driver in Rinus VeeKay and NASCAR has the Dutch Boy paint scheme on Blaney's car.
1
u/wheelie_dog 2d ago
FWIW, there is nothing actually Dutch about "Dutch Boy Paint" aside from the name itself.
It's an American company based in Ohio, and it was originally founded by an American lead-smelting company based in Houston.
Even the "Dutch" child in their logo is actually modeled after an Irish-American kid who was known by the logo designer (who was American himself).
The "Dutch" in the name is merely a legacy reference to a once-widespread centuries-old method of lead paint production that originated in the Netherlands, but which is now no longer in use due to the ban of lead in housepaint.
1
-1
32
u/Bluescreen73 3d ago
I don't foresee this happening. The travel costs and logistics are too expensive, and the ROI would be very low.