What is NASCAR’s plan to grow in major cities like Philadelphia?

NASCAR is planning to bring the sport to Philadelphia, the most populous city in Pennsylvania, and the sixth most populous in the US. While NASCAR is all set to race at Pocono in Long Pond, PA, the sanctioning body is interested in hosting another race in the state and is undertaking the necessary work for it.

According to Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR's current president, the sanctioning body is looking to race at Franklin Field. It is a sports stadium in Philadelphia and the home stadium for Penn Relays, named after Benjamin Franklin.

As per O'Donnell's comment, the sanctioning body want to put a track inside it and help build real estate around it by partnering with major developers and industrialists of the region. Speaking about the same, here's what the president said in an interview with Mason Smith of Pocono Record:

"Pocono (the venue in Philadelphia) has delivered for us in terms of fans, but when you look at opportunities, one of the places we looked was Franklin Field. It was one of the only places we could’ve put a race track inside. Those are the type of things that, within a city, we’re gonna look at. “The days of just building a rural track are over, but if we can build a track with some real estate development around it and partner with some people, we’re gonna look at major cities and bring the product to the fan base within the city as well."

Racing series putting together a track inside or around the stadium isn't new, as Formula 1 did it in Miami back in 2022. With the help of local developers, Miami's Hard Rock Stadium, Formula 1 devised a plan to race around the iconic landmark. Once everything was in place, they called it the F1 Miami GP.

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NASCAR's race locations could spin out of control

With 33 different tracks available for NASCAR to hold its national series races, the sport's interest in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, shows the sanctioning body's willingness to expand throughout the country and abroad. In recent times, the sport has also expanded beyond the United States to Mexico.

Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 LLumar Chevrolet, drives during the NASCAR Cup Series Viva Mexico 250 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez - Source: Getty

When it comes to overseas, the sport just returned from Mexico after hosting a race weekend at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez of Mexico City, the capital of Mexico. For the first time since 2008, the sport ventured into the North American country and hosted an Xfinity and a Cup Series race.

Even though the Mexican race weekend was a success, the top brass of the sanctioning body did not confirm if they would return to the same venue next year. On top of this, adding another track to the list could spin the sanctioning body's racing locations out of control.

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Edited by Luke Koshi