Nascar’s Decade-Old Data Push Targets a Bigger Fan Base

By James Calloway

About one-third of Americans consider themselves Nascar fans, compared with about half who consider themselves NFL fans, according to an Aug. 21, 2026 MRI-Simmons report. About one-quarter of Nascar fans also say they are “more engaged with Nascar now than they were in previous seasons,” the report says.

Nascar’s customer data platform, or CDP, has existed in some form for about a decade. Nascar designed the system to give industry stakeholders, including track owners and race promoters, a common definition and understanding of a Nascar fan. Internally, Nascar uses the platform for fan segmentation.

Nascar has only recently started using that data to move people through the fan funnel, according to Cara Verwholt, Nascar’s VP of performance marketing. Marketing Brew reports that segmentation is increasingly common across U.S. leagues including MLS and the NFL and international bodies such as the World Surf League.

What is Nascar trying to solve?

Verwholt, a former NFL marketer, framed the commercial stakes:

“It seems simple in practice, but there’s so many things competing for our attention, for our dollars,” Verwholt said. “Our fans are fans of the NFL. They’re fans of other sports. They go to concerts. They spend money on live event experiences. The data can tell you all of that.”

“That’s the opportunity, but that’s also the challenge—share of mind, share of wallet—and we want to continue to break through and build that relationship so that fans think of us first.”

Marketing Brew reported that many people prefer watching sports they have played. More commonly, they grow up kicking a soccer ball or tossing a football rather than driving a racecar.

Marketing Brew also identifies a second barrier inside Nascar’s ecosystem. A fan visiting a track owned by Speedway Motorsports, rather than Nascar, might not enter a Nascar-owned data platform automatically.

Verwholt, other Nascar executives and their partners at sports and entertainment marketing agency Two Circles have assembled a stakeholder committee to align fan definitions, including who qualifies as a new or engaged fan.

Brooks Ingram, Two Circles’ VP of business development, said the group aims to establish those definitions by December, ahead of the 2027 season.

Takeaway: Nascar cannot target the same fans consistently until its partners agree on who counts as a fan.

How will shared data change campaigns?

After Nascar ingests and standardizes data across stakeholders, the league can begin using it to activate and monetize. Ingram said the organization is now arriving at that phase.

Verwholt said the CDP also creates measurement benefits for joint campaigns:

“That’s what gets me really excited,” Verwholt said, “because if we collaborate [on] a campaign, as an example, there’s also now a neutral platform that sits in the middle where we can get insights and intelligence.”

Takeaway: A shared platform should give Nascar and its partners a common view of fans before campaign decisions.

Can storytelling turn interest into engagement?

Verwholt identified improving brand interest and perception as a major focus for her team. At last month’s Autosport Business Exchange in New York, Nascar EVP and Chief Brand Officer Tim Clark emphasized the same goal.

“Nascar doesn’t have a brand awareness problem,” Clark said on stage. “It may have a branding perception problem. That’s up to us to be better storytellers.”

Verwholt tied that storytelling work to the CDP. She said Nascar is investing heavily in brand work:

“It starts with brand work, which Nascar is investing [in] a lot,” Verwholt said. “We have a concerted effort to grow the brand, to reinvigorate our storytelling. That’s a key first step. It’s having that top-of-funnel activity to drive awareness, to drive intent, to drive interest.”

“That way, you see a Nascar spot, you go to the website, you may opt in to receive emails from us, you become a known fan in the database. But that’s only the very start of that journey.”

From the known-fan stage, Verwholt’s team aims to “deepen that attachment” and educate potential fans about the sport. She said fan segmentation can guide subsequent content, including content featuring Nascar drivers.

Jimmie Johnson, a pro driver turned Nascar team owner, said he thinks about storytelling more now than he did when racing was his only focus.

“I was worried about the rules” and on-track performance then, Johnson said during the Autosport Business Exchange event. “It’s just a different perspective when you’re in that true competition phase.”

Takeaway: Nascar’s funnel runs from advertising to a possible email opt-in, then from a known-fan record to deeper engagement through segmented driver content.

The December definitions will set the terms for measuring whether Nascar can turn a decade-old database and a broader top-of-funnel push into growth when the 2027 season begins.