NASCAR may be expanding its global footprint, but its roots remain. In late 2023, the sport signed a $7.7 billion media rights deal with Amazon Prime and TNT Sports. We saw the results of these partnerships in 2025, with global fans tuning into Prime’s coverage of Cup Series races. While this media coverage has contributed to a positive outlook of the sport, a recent publicity stunt has flipped that outlook. And this has reignited old stereotypical notions of NASCAR.

For 76 years, NASCAR has long been viewed as a motorsports limited to Southern white communities. Outliers like Wendell Scott and Bubba Wallace have defied long-standing stereotypes, carving out their own fan bases. That is why the reaction to the recent video by a popular Internet comedian was not what experts expected.

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