“You can watch the athlete play the game”: NASCAR Cup team owner plans to reintroduce MotoGP in America

Entrepreneur and NASCAR Cup Series team owner Justin Marks seems to be on a path to disrupt norms that come along with owning a stock car racing team. The former driver recently threw a curveball at fans when he confirmed the takeover of RNF Aprilia's satellite program ahead of the 2024 racing season.

Getting ready for a future crossover between the two vastly different sports, Justin Marks also has a broader vision for the 2-wheeled series in the United States of America. With the rise of national championships such as King of the Baggers, MotoGP has slowly faded in terms of popularity in the country.

With a majorly European-focused calendar, despite races at COTA and Laguna Seca, MotoGP has an opportunity to tap into the country's largest motorsport, NASCAR. Speaking on how he aims to achieve the same, Marks told the-race.com:

"One of the things that I’ve recognized, and one thing that I think Trackhouse can be a powerful participant in doing, is that a lot of the brands that are using MotoGP to activate and promote are relatively endemic to motorcycle racing. I’d love to see crossover promotion when MotoGP is in the United States, and we’ve already got some ideas about how to do that, and it’s one of the only forms of motorsport where you can watch the athlete play the game."

Banking on the advantages of MotoGP and what the format brings to the US audience, Justin Marks' effortsd could also work in the opposite direction. They could garner further international interest for NASCAR. After all, he has been able to achieve the same in the recent past.

NASCAR's recently finalized TV rights deal could also benefit from crossovers such as MotoGP

With a recently announced TV rights deal worth $7.7 Billion for 7 years with various broadcasters, 2024 might just be the perfect time for a MotoGP-NASCAR crossover.

If Justin Marks' Project 91 program taught us anything, it was that international-caliber drivers are interested in NASCAR as a sport. The only catch in that phrase comes in the form of access.

Once that is made easier, F1 and IMSA champions were seen in a stock car racing field together, and that is one stat unlikely to be replicated in any other motorsport series.

Even a meager marketing crossover for the two entities could divulge fans from both series, benefitting either. It remains to be seen how and when that happens next year.