The NASCAR offseason can feel like an eternity for most racing fans. These suggestions will help fans through the winter months before 2023.
Once the final race of the year concludes in November, the “dark months” of the year set in for NASCAR fans. With no racing in December or January, the winter feels like an eternity before the NASCAR offseason finally comes to an end in February.
Although there are other sports like football, basketball, and hockey to watch, these still do not satisfy the racing itch for NASCAR fans. The movies, podcasts, and YouTube channels below should help NASCAR fans through this difficult time of the year.
Movies/Documentaries
- Days of Thunder
- Race: Bubba Wallace
- Race for the Championship
- Dale
- Unrivaled: Earnhardt vs. Gordon
There is a healthy mix of older movies and newer documentaries that NASCAR fans can enjoy this offseason. Days of Thunder is a 1990 feature film that stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Cruise portrays Cole Trickle, a young driver fighting to earn his stripes in the Cup Series. Trickle often earns comparisons to Jeff Gordon. The racing action along with the underdog story make this classic a must-watch for all NASCAR fans.
Race: Bubba Wallace and Race for the Championship are two newer documentaries. Race: Bubba Wallace is a Netflix documentary that came out in 2021. In addition to looking at Bubba Wallace‘s backstory, the documentary gives fans a behind-the-scenes look at 23XI Racing during their inaugural 2021 season. This includes features on Denny Hamlin as he transitioned into his new role as a driver-owner and Wallace’s growing pains as 23XI’s first driver.
Race for the Championship debuted on USA Network in 2022. The 10-episode docuseries looks into the on and off-track lives of several NASCAR drivers as they navigate through the 2022 season. Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, and Daniel Suarez are among the drivers featured throughout the series. The documentary makes the NASCAR stars more relatable and helps fans to better appreciate all that their favorite drivers have to go through on a week-to-week basis.
The final two documentaries on this list are great watches for all NASCAR fans, but especially those that love Dale Earnhardt Sr. Dale was released in 2007 and details the life of the late Earnhardt. The film features interviews with Dale Earnhardt Jr., Richard Childress, and Teresa Earnhardt among others. It also utilizes archival footage and interviews with Dale Sr. to show the man behind the legend.
In 2019, FOX released Unrivaled: Earnhardt vs. Gordon. The documentary analyzes the relationship between two of the most successful drivers in NASCAR history: Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Jeff Gordon. It contrasts their off-track friendship with their on-track rivalry. The doc especially shows how their rivalry spilled over into their respective fanbases and helped grow the sport during the 1990s. Similar to Dale, Unrivaled features interviews with Dale Jr., Childress, Gordon, and Rick Hendrick.
Podcasts
- Door Bumper Clear
- The Dale Jr. Download
- Stacking Pennies with Corey LaJoie
- MRN Podcasts
- The Teardown
Although most of these podcasts are not recording as many new episodes during the offseason, it is the perfect time to catch up on any episodes from the 2022 season.
Door Bumper Clear is hosted by NASCAR spotters T.J. Majors, Freddie Kraft, and Brett Griffin. The trio, alongside host Casey Boat, give unfiltered opinions on everything happening in NASCAR. While they are spotters and have inside access to the NASCAR garage, they often come across more as fans of the sport. This makes the show easily relatable and very entertaining. Currently, on the DBC YouTube channel, they are highlighting the show’s best moments from 2022. Included are feature episodes with Jamie McMurray, Noah Gragson, Denny Hamlin, and Jeff Burton.
The Dale Jr. Download is arguably the most popular podcast in all of NASCAR since it is hosted by the sport’s most popular driver of all time: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Similar to DBC, Dale Jr. and co-host Mike Davis give their takes on everything NASCAR. However, the lengthy interviews that dig deep into NASCAR’s stars from the past and present are what sets The Dale Jr. Download apart. As they say on the show, something about the DJD studio allows guests to put their guard down and show audiences a side of them that nobody has seen before. These interviews have featured drivers, crew chiefs, and NASCAR officials. In 2022, the most notable guests included Brian France, Erik Jones, Chris Buescher, Ty Gibbs, Greg Biffle, and Justin Marks.
The final three podcasts on this list are usually shorter in length, but still are worthy of a listen. Stacking Pennies gives listeners a look into how Corey LaJoie manages driving for a lower-tier team. In addition to touching on hot topics in the world of NASCAR, LaJoie often brings guests on as well, including Kyle Petty and 2022 Cup Series champion Joey Logano.
The Motor Racing Network (MRN), which broadcasts half of the NASCAR schedule on the radio, has several podcast series that fans can enjoy year-round. MRN Classic Races, Jeff Gordon: A Colorful Career, The Many Hats of Jack Roush, and Richard Petty: The Road to Royalty are some of the best podcast series produced by MRN.
The Teardown is hosted by Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic. While they mainly offer race recaps during the regular season, Gluck’s 12 Questions episodes are worth checking out during the offseason. As the name implies, Gluck asks a rotating cast of drivers the same set of 12 questions. These short, half-hour episodes give insight into the differences in each driver’s personality. Nearly every NASCAR driver was interviewed by Gluck during 2022, but Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., and Ryan Blaney are some of the most notable.
Fans should incorporate each of these shows into their podcast playlists during the offseason, so they can listen to them more once they start producing more episodes during the 2023 season.
YouTube Channels
- Eric Estepp
- The Iceberg
- S1apSh0es
- Black Flags Matter
- NASCAR, NASCAR on FOX, and Motorsports on NBC
A new NASCAR sector of YouTube has emerged in recent years with several channels producing high-quality content. All of these channels can help make the NASCAR offseason more tolerable for fans. Eric Estepp focuses more on the news and updates of the NASCAR world. For fans not wanting to miss anything that occurs during the offseason, Estepp is the perfect channel to check out. He also occasionally makes ranking lists, predictions, vlogs, race recaps, and also has interviews with popular NASCAR figures like Richard Petty and Hailie Deegan.
The Iceberg, S1apSh0es, and Black Flags Matter all produce similar videos. These are more like documentaries or video essays than standard YouTube videos and touch on past and present NASCAR topics. The Iceberg covers current NASCAR headlines and has a few series, including Missing Rings, What If…, and Top 10s. Similarly, Black Flags Matter has a collection of insightful series on the history of NASCAR. Abandoned Tracks, NASCAR Busts, Bad Seasons, and Championship Seasons are amongst the channel’s most popular videos. S1apSh0es does not upload as much as other channels, but as recently released great videos on Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, and Mark Martin.
NASCAR, NASCAR on FOX, and Motorsports on NBC are each official NASCAR YouTube channels. During the regular season, they have highlights and commentary from every race. In the offseason, they still have a lot of great content, including top 10 lists, historical races, and interviews.
The NASCAR offseason may still feel like an eternity, but hopefully, these suggestions can help fans through the winter season before the sport returns at the LA Coliseum in February.
