NASCAR has taken great efforts over the past few years to try to diversify its fanbase, and last week it made a big move to try to get a diverse audience to its first-ever NASCAR Chicago Street Race.
This week, NASCAR held a couple of outreach events in Chicago in an attempt to reach out to a more diverse audience, including a South Side event hosted by Bubba Wallace – the only full-time black driver in the Cup Series – geared toward reaching the Black community.
But they weren’t just outreach events. NASCAR also gave away vouchers for free tickets to the Chicago Street Race. While NASCAR undoubtedly knew this move might upset some fans who already paid for tickets or could not afford tickets, which started at $269, they made it clear that it was important to introduce Black people to racing.
“Introducing our sport to a new audience is why we are here,” said Julie Giese, president of the Chicago street race, according to Fox Sports. “We made a commitment on Day 1 with the city of Chicago that we were going to invest in the community, be here year-round, build programs to support the community and understand all the different opportunities and ways to be part of NASCAR.”
People had plenty to say about the free ticket initiative.
I’n curious if Nascar nets any new fans from this test. So far I don’t see any significant boost in the west from the races at the colosseum.
— Christopher Welch✝️ (@WelchC8289) June 30, 2023
you better believe NASCAR is making money off this race, they can afford to give away a few tickets every now and then especially at a new track in a new city… the racists will have problems with this like they do anything that has to do with DEI.
— 🇵🇸 🔻 CeasefireNOW 🔻🇵🇸 (@MrPissant) June 30, 2023
I wanted to go but didn’t want to spend $250 a ticket, guess I know why they were so high now.
— tyler jackson (@TheShark8dirt) June 30, 2023
I got some free tickets from him guys! I’ll be there Saturday and Sunday!
— Maurice 🤘🏾 (@morris1394_) June 30, 2023
It's a shame Nascar has stooped to the level of trying to bribe people to show up for races.
— Torino (@51Allgood) July 1, 2023
Very cool way to introduce the sport to a new market. Go Nascar https://t.co/aL6AuSFtJv
— Kendall Snyder (@KendallSnyder) June 30, 2023
Oh some of the comments under this tweet are fantastic 🙄 https://t.co/nqNoACnq8Y
— Jared Feinberg (@JRodNFLDraft) June 30, 2023
It’s unclear how many people took advantage of the promotion.
