NASCAR has begun to get more involved in the social media game by using its younger drivers to attract younger fan demographics. The younger generations are attached to their smartphones and specifically social media apps such as Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram and NASCAR has realized these are the best ways to engage with fans off the racetrack. NASCAR’s younger drivers such as Ryan Blaney are the driving force to fan engagement and he has taken action to putting this movement into reality.
Ryan Blaney was handed the keys to NASCAR’s Snapchat account for three days during his vacation to Costa Rica. Blaney dedicated some of his time to speak with myself about NASCAR and its developments in the social media sphere and where it is headed for the future.
22-year-old Blaney, a third generation driver, is one of the up and coming drivers and a tremendous personality for NASCAR. Blaney has been around the sport since he was a child watching his father’s races and hanging at the racetrack. Blaney has seen the true evolution of the popularity of NASCAR even outside of only social media. Reflecting on how fan interaction has changed, Blaney stated, “Appearances at the racetrack, away from the racetrack, we meet a lot of fans. That’s gone way up.”
Look who’s taking over NASCAR’s Snapchat: It’s @Blaney!
https://t.co/Ktw3wtREBx pic.twitter.com/EUE8fqURdS
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 15, 2016
Blaney believes the key to growing the sport of NASCAR is to continue engaging with fans on and off the track. NASCAR drivers are people off the racetrack and social media provides the opportunity for fans to continue to follow their favorite drivers throughout their daily lives. Blaney stated, “They want to see us and they want to relate to us, you know, and see that we’re people.”
Blaney sees how the world in general is changing due to social media. “10 years ago we didn’t have social media like this. It’s incredible how much it’s grown.” Blaney understands social media can be a powerful force and must be used in the right way, as fans can perceive information in many different ways.
.@Blaney and @BubbaWallace‘s impression game on
!#NASCARGoesWesthttps://t.co/qdNlg6jqw2
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 14, 2016
An example of how NASCAR has connected its races with fans is through the Hashtag 500. The Hashtag 500 is a twitter race with fans that gives them the opportunity to win memorabilia from the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 race. Twitter and NASCAR developed a race-themed emoji of waving flags that appears each time a fan includes #DAYTONA500 in its tweet. This contest has even brought involvement of celebrities such John Cena and Ken Griffey Jr.
Jill Gregory, NASCAR senior vice president, marketing and industry services, is thrilled with the direction NASCAR is heading for the future. “The traditional channels are very important and we’re never going to go away from that, but if we want to get younger and more diverse, we have to share this type of content and do it where they are,” stated Gregory to USA Today Sports. “We can’t always expect the fans to find us. We have to push our content proactively out to them, so by partnering with someone like Snapchat, that’s our way of putting NASCAR content in front of more people.”
Social media is only going to continue staying on the rise in our future. NASCAR is remaining ahead of the game by adapting the changing times. Blaney along with the other younger drivers of NASCAR, such as his good friend Darrell Wallace Jr., are the future of the sport and fans want to interact as much as they can. NASCAR has a plan and with its commitments to social media it will have a great opportunity to grow the sport with its fans.