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NASCAR Cup Series driver Ross Chastain strongly believes that the growing popularity of F1 in the United States would reap benefits for motorsports as a whole.
The motorsports community has been buzzing amid the 2023 F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix this weekend, November 17-19. The glitz and glamour, and the build-up leading to the mega event at the Las Vegas Street Circuit has fans hyped up, as well as drivers from different motorsports series.
As the anticipation continues to build for the penultimate Formula 1 race of the season, many NASCAR drivers believe that the excitement from F1 will rub off to NASCAR and other stock car racing series in America.
Cup Series driver Ross Chastain expressed his enthusiasm for the F1 race in Las Vegas. Speaking to Autoweek, he said:
“I love it. I think a rising tide raises all ship. I've become a fan.”
Chastain acknowledged the increasing interest that F1 has seen in the US in recent years. He said:
“I wasn't a fan 15 years ago, but I was 10 years ago, and I've just slowly kind of just watched from afar. I've never been to anything, been to any events or anything. I'm glad that we've got more events on this side of the pond and love that more people are watching.”
Denny Hamlin agrees with Ross Chastain on F1's positive impact on NASCAR's popularity
Ross Chastain's fellow Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin echoed similar sentiments to the Trackhouse Racing driver when speaking to Autosport.
Hamlin speculated that the F1 event might lead to a spillover effect, with fans attending their first motorsports event during the F1 race and subsequently considering attending a NASCAR race when it comes to Vegas.
He said:
“I mean, you hope so, right? Certainly you would think that there's going to be a lot of casual, first-time fans going to a motorsports event, fans going to F1 in Vegas because of how convenient it is, right?”
The 43-year-old added:
"When I say convenient, I mean it's right here in the States in a heavily populated area. You've got the whole West Coast. And if there's just a handful—10, 12— people that go to that and then say, ‘When the NASCAR race comes to Vegas, I'm going to go to my very first NASCAR race,’ then that's a good thing. I certainly think that there will be some of that that goes on, just because of people experiencing motorsports for the first time.”
It remains to be seen if Ross Chastain and Denny Hamlin's predictions about Las Vegas Grand Prix's positive impacts on the NASCAR viewership will to materialize.
