What’s Happening?

With the news of a NASCAR rom-com being in development, NASCAR fans are thinking back to NASCAR’s other entertainment properties. There have been plenty of TV shows surrounding NASCAR throughout the years, but which ones are the absolute worst?

• This list is solely looking at television shows or shorts. Movies are not eligible for this list.
• Shows included can range from sitcoms to animated shows to the typical talking-head NASCAR shows. Each one can be included, but, today we are looking at the worst of the worst.
• Fans are always skeptical of new NASCAR TV shows. This is mainly due to the audience NASCAR attempts to reach. Are they looking to reach hardcore fans or reach new fans?

5. The Reality of Speed

The Reality of Speed was a television series that ran for 3 seasons on Spike and Speed Channel. It follows the Holigan Racing team, who raced in both AMA Supercross and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The focus is primarily on supercross, as the team only raced in 6 Xfinity Series races in 2004 with Regan Smith and David Starr driving.

The series lasted for only 3 seasons between 2004 and 2006. It’s primarily on this list due to it not being memorable. NASCAR is far from the main draw, but the series is just kind of there.

4. NASCAR Racers

NASCAR Racers was a kids show that aired on Fox Kids between 1999 and 2001. It follows an animated, fictionalized version of NASCAR where Team Fastex goes up against Team Rexcor. The show received a 6.2/10 rating on IMDb.

However, the show ran for only 3 seasons on a channel that no longer exists. This is on the list, not necessarily due to the show itself, but because it was a missed opportunity. Getting young kids interested in NASCAR through TV shows like this is an interesting concept.

3. The Adventures Digger and Friends

In 2008, Fox introduced a new character to the broadcast, a “Gopher cam”, that was located within the track surface with the cars racing over the top of it. The gopher was later named “Digger”, and a pre-race cartoon followed. The cartoon itself was fine, but, largely unnecessary.

Why did there NEED to be a Digger cartoon before a race? It filled time, so it served that purpose. However, it’s not something that made the Fox broadcast stand out all too much. Again, the show was not necessarily bad, but the execution was lackluster.

2. Austin Dillon’s Life in the Fast Lane

In 2022, Austin Dillon gained a reality TV series on USA, entitled “Life in the Fast Lane”. How good was the show? A 4.8 rating on IMDb tells the story.

The idea of going behind the scenes with a NASCAR driver is cool, and this filled a reality TV show hole after Racing Wives ended. However, it just did not appeal to NASCAR’s core audience as Austin Dillon is not one of NASCAR’s biggest stars.

1. The Crew

The Crew is here partially because the show itself was average, but primarily due to timing. The show released on Netflix as Formula One was at the height of “Drive to Survive”. While Formula One had a compelling, serious Netflix show showcasing the series, NASCAR had a comedy show.

This was simply not what fans were looking for. Formula One was bringing in new fans by showcasing how great their real sport was, while NASCAR had a comedic spoof of the series on the same platform. The show lasted for only one season.

Thankfully, these shows did not last for very long. Nowadays with shows like NASCAR Full Speed, it seems NASCAR is working on getting better TV shows.