🏎 NASCAR Unveils A Million Dollar Bracket

Posted by eRacr.gg May 15, 2024 in The Money Lap

Good morning! NASCAR has debuted their in-season tournament that will see one driver win $1,000,000 in 2025. It’s an intriguing concept that’s sure to provide some compelling storylines throughout the season. What do you think, are you a fan? Let us know below! 👇

A must-see event for $1,000,000.

— NASCAR (@NASCAR)
May 13, 2024

Parker’s POV

Speed Visions

Often I get asked how I got into racing. It’s a fairly simple story yet an odd one in this industry. The short version? I saw racing on TV. Specifically, SpeedVision. The year was 1999, and my family got cable (I know, what on earth did they watch?). I was in love with cars and had model cars since I could function. But I vividly remember the day I found this glorious, weird channel and saw cars being raced.

I remember thinking, whatever that is, I want to be doing it (Glad I found racing and not The Food Network)! And thus, my life would be dominated by cars going in circles. In one shape or another. The first cars I saw? Well, I remember it being F1, but who knows, it all blends together. The point is, before this moment in 1999, no one in my family had ever heard of auto racing, and there was absolutely no one with even a vague connection or interest.

If you’ve paid attention to motorsports for more than a minute, you will know this is almost unheard of to be first generation anymore. This sport is so interconnected that half the time, I feel like 98% of the sport all attends the same Thanksgiving, and there are a few of us who aren’t invited. To put it mildly, being a true first-generation participant in this sport has always made me an outsider, and I always will be. But for most of my initiation into this wonderful game, I could always depend on a cable channel to be my connection, my resource, my happy place.

Although it transitioned from SpeedVision to Speed Channel and included some questionable drag racing-related reality shows. For almost a decade and a half, it was the only channel my TVs were ever on. Then in 2013, we all bid farewell as its success had made it too valuable to focus solely on motorsports, and the motorsports industry was starting to struggle. It became FS1, and with that, the motorsports-only content slipped away. But in 2024, one connection to the channel and content that made me choose to make this sport my life still graces the airwaves. It’s a show that, for most of my time in TV, I was on its competitor on NBC, ‘NASCAR America,’ but they outlasted us.

When I went into TV in 2014, all I would ever reference in production meetings, idea sessions, and to the janitors after late shows was how we needed to simply copy Speed Channel for motorsports! We had all the motorsports and needed to lean into that more! Rightfully so, nobody listened to the 24-year-old nobody, and all made the correct choice. But I couldn’t help but feel like I was in the place to help kids like me fall in love with this sport.

We didn’t do that, but NASCAR RaceHub kept going on its mission. With its roots deeply set in the pre-FS1 Speed motorsport news shows that indoctrinated or informed outsiders like me. For many like me, it has been the sole connection to this weird, quirky, insiders-only sport that you can’t just pick up and play in your backyard.

But 2024 is as far as it will make it. As Fox announced last week, NASCAR RaceHub will cease to exist come the week after their final NASCAR Cup broadcast of 2024 in June. Yes, cable as a medium is old-fashioned, and social media and podcasts have taken over, but more so than its purpose. To me, in June 2024, a piece of my childhood, my life’s work will turn off. The ‘color bars’ as you see in TV control rooms will take over their screens, and the next scheduled programming will be airing like nothing happened.

It makes me think of something I heard the infamous late-night host David Letterman remark. He was speaking to many of the current late-night TV hosts when he said something to the effect, “With a show like Seinfeld, they will keep airing them, but for late-night TV or anything topical. When it’s done, it’s done. Forgotten.”

That will be the case for RaceHub, but maybe its legacy is the people like me, and I’ve hopefully got a little time left in this game.

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Trivia

The Greatest Day in Motorsports Giveaway

The Greatest Day in Motorsports is just around the corner! To commemorate the special day, we’ve teamed up with Pristine Auction to give away some awesome items. Parker and Landon hand-picked and bid on these items to give away to YOU! Entries are now open!

Enter Now