Motorsports

How the NASCAR sponsorship model is changing: ‘A massive shift’ in Amazon era

Published

7 months ago

May 23, 2025

It was a jarring sight earlier this year when the Joe Gibbs Racing hauler carrying Denny Hamlin’s car had a large vacancy on its side paneling typically filled by the branding for Hamlin’s main sponsor.

For nearly 20 years, FedEx occupied this spot, serving as the primary sponsor for Hamlin’s No. 11 team, and in many years did so by sponsoring the vast majority of the races on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule. Such was the relationship between driver, team and sponsor, it became one of the most identifiable in NASCAR history.

But the partnership between FedEx and JGR ended after the 2024 season, and a replacement still hadn’t been secured by late January when the No. 11 team’s hauler had pulled into Charlotte Motor Speedway before that weekend’s season-opening Clash exhibition race. That JGR wasn’t able to immediately land a replacement for a driver in Hamlin, who’s one of the most recognizable and successful current drivers, seemed to speak of a bigger issue — an indictment on the state of NASCAR as a whole. In some circles, alarms went off.

Flash forward four months, and when Hamlin’s hauler pulls into Charlotte for this weekend’s race, the once-vacant spot on its side paneling has since been filled. In March, JGR announced Progressive Insurance had signed on as primary sponsor for the 18 races that had not yet been filled. The news cast a spotlight on both the ever-changing landscape teams are fighting on the sponsorship side and why teams are largely optimistic about the direction the sport is headed.

“The marketing side of it is very bullish right now,” said team owner Rick Ware, whose team signed a 12-race deal with Arby’s earlier this year. “We’re obviously one of the smaller teams and we’re having dramatically more conversations than we typically have in the past. That doesn’t mean that you close them all, but the interest is there.”

Nearly every team owner or executive who spoke to The Athletic for this story expressed similar enthusiasm. Many said this was the most optimistic they’ve felt about sponsorship in some time, pointing to increased interested due to two main factors: A new media rights deal that notably includes Amazon Prime picking up five races — the first time NASCAR has paired with a streaming service to carry Cup races — and the inclusion on the schedule of the first international Cup points race since the 1950s.

“The marketers know that’s the path of where audiences are going,” 23XI Racing president Steve Lauletta said. “So this isn’t a one-year light switch, it’s going to be more of a dimmer to try to keep growing and follow the audience as it grows.”

For nearly two decades, FedEx served as Denny Hamlin’s primary sponsor before exiting the sport after last season. (Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)

When NASCAR announced its deal with Prime in late 2023, the excitement expressed by the league was offset to some degree by a number of teams who, while encouraged, also had reservations on whether a sport dependent on corporate sponsorship was meant to air on a subscription streaming service.

But teams have come to learn that a good number of fans already had access to Prime — some not even realizing it — and that being associated with a leading streaming service was something that proved attractive to both existing sponsors and potential future sponsors. Multiple team executives said they had companies outside the sport reach out to them wanting to explore potential deals solely because of the value Prime offered.

“Sponsors are very intrigued by Amazon,” Richard Childress Racing president Mike Verlander said. “Now, we have no result back yet, so let’s see what the result looks like. But you see what they did with the NFL. It’s only grown. We expect the same.

“It’s been a massive shift. You’ll hear the naysayers about the unknowns of Amazon, but at the end of the day, I think it’s an all-positive narrative because there’s new players that are putting their stake into this. Now, is it tough because the avid fan has to now figure out where to find it? Yeah, but in time, everyone will fall in line and figure it out.”

A similar reaction occurred last August when NASCAR announced Mexico City’s addition to the 2025 Cup schedule. Several companies were intrigued by the potential marketing opportunities, envisioning a large crowd of fans when NASCAR visited the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez circuit.

One such company is Colgate, which has funded the non-profit Estrellas Colgate since 1980, providing athletic and wellness programs to underserved children. Having become connected with RFK Racing through the team’s new primary sponsorship with supermarket giant Kroger, a business-to-business deal was put together where one of RFK’s three cars will carry Colgate branding in Mexico City.

A race in Mexico does bring a set of new sponsorship challenges, however.

Mexico imposes stringent regulations on what products can be advertised there. For some teams, this is a non-issue. For others, like RCR, it’s been problematic. Among the team’s sponsors are Rebel Bourbon, Bet MGM, Zone nicotine pouches and Winchester Ammunition, none of which are allowed to advertise in Mexico. Therefore, any branding on any car, uniform, hauler, pit box, etc., must be covered up.

Despite the hurdles for RCR, Verlander supports NASCAR expanding internationally.

“It’s been very positive because it’s a new reach, it’s a new fan, it’s a new everything,” he said.

Though some of RCR’s longtime partners may not be able to market in Mexico, RCR is well-versed in finding new partners interested in sponsoring the team in a limited capacity. In fact, they’ve become a leader in this approach to selling sponsorship.

Not too long ago, it was common for a team to have an anchor sponsor on its car for 20-plus races, if not the near entirety of the 38-race season. JGR, for one, operated under this model; it had long-term, big-money contracts with several Fortune 500 companies to back its four teams and rarely had any holes.

The game has changed, though, and JGR and other teams have had to evolve with it. As much as teams would love to have one main sponsor for 30-some races, this is no longer feasible. JGR president Dave Alpern said he’s sat in more meetings with prospective sponsors this season than at any point in his 32 years working in the sport. And from this, JGR has signed six new sponsors, four of which are new to NASCAR.

“The models are changing in terms of what people are looking for, and so JGR has adapted,” said Eric Schaffer, JGR’s chief commercial officer. “We’ve added a marketing group that we didn’t have before. And so people are focused on data and absolutely getting a return on their investment. And our job, and our team’s job, is to make sure that they get that return. … It’s certainly not a sticker on the car anymore, it’s an integrated marketing program that we’re trying to deliver value for the partners.”

Many companies now understand that while being involved in NASCAR brings value, that value doesn’t translate to being the primary sponsor for so many races. It’s become about maximizing return on investment, and in many instances, that means identifying key markets and focusing marketing efforts heavily on this. For instance, if a company doesn’t make its product available in a certain region of the United States, it might not make sense to market itself at a particular race in that area.

NASCAR execs say there’s been an uptick in sponsor interest since the latest media rights deal, which includes Amazon Prime. (Chris Graythen / Getty Images)

RCR was one of the first organizations to focus heavily on a model of having several primary sponsors throughout the season, each of which would feature in only a handful of races. Competitors in the garage sometimes looked at RCR’s cars and snickered at whichever new or unknown company it had signed, but for RCR, it was an effective strategy to ensure it sold out all its primary sponsorship inventory.

This model has paid dividends for RCR, even helping position the organization to land one of the biggest named drivers, Kyle Busch, to hit the free agent market in many years.

After Mars Inc. informed JGR before the 2022 season that this would be its last with the team, JGR found itself in the difficult position of having to find a replacement primary sponsor and also allot enough budget to afford the salary for a two-time Cup champion still in the prime of his career. It was a puzzle JGR could not completely put together. The result saw Busch decamp to RCR, where it had a piecemeal sponsorship program in place to make a deal work.

“What I like about our model is you have six, seven brands on a car and they’re all taking Austin Dillon to market, and all are taking Kyle Busch and Jesse Love to the market,” Verlander said. “That’s just a further reach by brands promoting who we are. Do you want 38 one-race sponsors? No. In a perfect world, you have a small handful, and everybody shares a little bit of the activation load. But you have to own who you are, and you have to lean into those brands, and you have to be willing to sell three at a time if you need to.”

Outside of a few exceptions, gone are the days of a team having one primary sponsor for the entire season. This trend will likely continue. But at the same time, the number of companies interested has changed, too, with more enticed by NASCAR’s changing complexion.

“It’s certainly better than where it was when I started as a team owner in the Cup Series,” said Brad Keselowski, who became co-owner of RFK Racing beginning with the 2022 season. “… We have really good interest, interest is not a problem for us. Connecting all the dots and getting through the layers of corporate America is seemingly the challenge, more so than interest.”

(Top photo of Denny Hamlin’s Progressive, Christopher Bell’s Dewalt, and Bubba Wallace’s McDonald’s-sponsored cars: Jeffrey Vest / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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Motorsports

Larson shares only hilarious texts he gets from Hendrick – Motorsport – Sports

Published

14 minutes ago

December 8, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Rick Hendrick often texts current NASCAR champion Kyle Larson, but the owner of Hendrick Motorsports only sends him TikTok videos of the driver crashing sprint cars.

Larson recently won his second NASCAR Cup Series championship with Hendrick Motorsports after first winning the title during his debut season with the team in 2021. Before joining Hendrick, the team had a strict policy that restricted drivers from engaging in dirt racing and other events due to safety concerns.

Hendrick later relaxed the ruling after signing Larson, who has a lifelong passion for dirt and sprint racing, and believes it has made him a better Cup Series driver. While Hendrick now allows extracurricular racing, he still frequently sends Larson videos of him crashing as a reminder.

During an appearance on The Drivers Project Podcast, Larson revealed that his communication with Hendrick centers around his errors and wrecks in sprint cars. “Rick has this thing, so he’s on TikTok all the time,” Larson said.

“The only time he’ll text me is, he’ll send me TikToks of me crashing sprint cars. He’s like, ‘Good to see how safe this is, not.’ He loves to send TikToks of me crashing sprint cars from like years before.”

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Larson was one of the top NASCAR prospects when signing for Hendrick, and previously spent seven years with Chip Ganassi Racing. After making his Cup Series debut for Phoenix Racing in 2013, he was given a full-time seat by CGR and continued to improve.

Hendrick then expressed interest in Larson, but the driver was honest and shared his passion for sprint racing during negotiations. During an interview with NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr., Larson admitted that his honesty could have cost him a contract.

“I was super nervous. Obviously, everything happened to me, and then I met Rick (Hendrick) and Jeff (Gordon), and we talked and talked,” Larson said. “They’re like, what’s important to you? What do you want? And what do you want us to do if we sign you? I was like, man, I would just like to race sprint cars…”

Hendrick ended up signing Larson and changing his stance on activities outside the Cup Series. Larson believes that NASCAR has changed since he first became a full-time driver, and believes that the extra racing is beneficial.

“Back then, you were testing all the time,” Larson added. “You were practicing on Fridays and Saturdays, racing Sundays. Now you have 20 minutes of practice, if that. Like this, we can go to Talladega. We just qualify the race.

“So I think that the teams are now seeing that it’s harder for your driver to stay sharp with limited track time. So I think it’s a way, obviously, it’s risky. It’s risky racing. Let your driver race sprint cars and dirt stuff and all that.

“But I think they see the upside of it. You know, staying sharp and racing all that. In 2021, my first year, Hendrick had obviously a really good for the championship, and I raced more that year than I ever have… So it’s gone good, I am appreciative of it for sure.”

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Motorsports

High-profile witnesses await as NASCAR antitrust trial drags into second week – 41NBC News

Published

31 minutes ago

December 8, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Witness delays, tense negotiations and high-profile texts shape ongoing NASCAR courtroom battle

Mgn 1280x720 30217p00 Rdbye — NASCAR antitrust trial slows as teams prepare to call top executives to testify

By JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing Writer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The slow pace of the federal antitrust suit lodged against NASCAR continued Monday at the start of the second week of the trial, with high-profile witnesses not expected to make it to the stand anytime soon.

Jeffrey Kessler, lead attorney for the two teams suing NASCAR, indicated he plans to call NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps after an expected lengthy testimony from an accountant who will analyze team finances. After Phelps, Kessler said he will call Hall of Fame team owner Richard Childress and finally NASCAR chairman Jim France.

But the case is moving far too slow for U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell’s liking and he’s repeatedly asked both 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, as well as NASCAR, to speed it up. Monday was already off to a delayed start because Bell had to open court in the Western District of North Carolina early to address a slew of motions filed over the weekend.

He was particularly bothered by objections he received at 2:55 a.m. Monday and then 6:50 a.m. before the morning session. He took an hour to get through the rulings, and testimony resumed 30 minutes behind schedule.

It took until the first break of the day to finish testimony from Jonathan Marshall, the executive director of the Race Team alliance, a formal organization meant to represent all of the teams.

In his second day of testimony about the negotiations process on new revenue models, Marshall testified that a week before teams were given the take-it-or-leave-it final offer, a first version of the agreement was presented and team owners Joe Gibbs, Rick Hendrick and Roger Penske all indicated they planned to sign.

Marshall informed the other teams that the top three owners in NASCAR felt they had been presented with the best deal they would receive and planned to accept it, and he testified he believed all other team owners would follow the trio.

“There was a lot of discussion that these three men had been speaking to Jim France, trying to get accommodations on issues and it was clear it wasn’t going to happen,” Marshall said. “These were very friendly team owners with the France’s, in some cases over 50 years. Once those three signed, no one felt a better deal would be available.”

When Kessler gets to his final three witness, testimony should shed more light on the animosity between teams and series executives during the contentious two-plus years of negotiations on a new revenue sharing agreement.

Who is still to come?

Childress was the subject of derogatory text messages in which Phelps called the six-time championship-winning owner a redneck who “needs to be taken out back and flogged.”

The texts came out in the discovery phase of this messy saga in which Basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan refused to accept NASCAR’s final offer on a new charter agreement and decided to sue the Florida-based France family, which founded NASCAR in 1948 and privately owns the stock car racing series.

It took Jordan’s testimony Friday to bring the national spotlight to NASCAR, but not for its racing product or its competition. Instead, Jordan is out to prove NASCAR is run by a family of dictators enriching themselves at the expense of the teams and drivers. Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, along with Front Row Racing, were the only two teams out of 15 to refuse the new charter agreements offered in September 2024 with a six-hour deadline to sign the 112-page document.

A charter is similar to the franchise model in other sports, but in NASCAR it guarantees 36 teams spots in the 40-car field, as well as specific revenue.

NASCAR publicly admitted it wants to settle the case in comments made ahead of the November season finale by Phelps, but the first week of testimony revealed Jordan and Front Row owner Bob Jenkins want a combined $340 million in damages. Jordan has previously said he’s open to a settlement; several mediation sessions failed to find a solution.

The case had a dreadfully slow first week in which Bell told both sides to pick up the pace but it seems certain the trial will carry into a third week as NASCAR remains days away from beginning its defense.

Every twist in the yearlong court battle has been a setback for NASCAR, which maintains it did give teams an improved revenue model from the original 2016 charter agreement and everything it has done is for the benefit of growing the sport.

However, Jenkins has claimed he’s never turned a profit in more than two decades of racing and has stated losses between $70 million and $100 million. Jordan and Hamlin have admitted 23XI Racing has been profitable in its five years of existence, but largely based on Jordan’s ability to draw high-dollar sponsors.

Jordan, who testified he’s a lifelong NASCAR fan, felt as one of the newer owners in a sport in which the top teams have existed for decades, that he was the only one who could actually challenge the France’s on their way of doing business.

“Someone had to step forward and challenge the entity,” Jordan testified. “I sat in those meetings with longtime owners who were brow-beaten for so many years trying to make change. I was a new person, I wasn’t afraid. I felt I could challenge NASCAR as a whole. I felt as far as the sport, it needed to be looked at from a different view.”

Among witnesses NASCAR is expected to call are Hall of Fame team owners Hendrick and Penske, two of the most powerful figures in motorsports. Penske tried to set his court appearance schedule by telling NASCAR he was only available to testify Monday, but the plaintiffs objected to Penske being called in the middle of their presentation.

Bell sided with 23XI Racing and Front Row and told NASCAR to work it out with Penske, who as owner of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IndyCar, which recently adopted its charter system, can testify to race sanctioning agreements, the revenue models and financial health of race teams.

Hendrick, a close friend of the France family for decades, is a car salesman and Charlotte local who can use his communication skills to support the theory everyone in racing understands the financials and willingly enters into NASCAR and the France’s business model.

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Motorsports

NASCAR Driver Logan Misuraca Set to Return to Daytona for 2026 ARCA Menards Series Opener with City Garage Motorsports

Published

47 minutes ago

December 8, 2025

Your Sports Nation

NASCAR Driver Logan Misuraca

Florida native returns to her proving ground, bringing elite drafting skill and superspeedway confidence to Daytona’s biggest stage.

Being a Florida local returning to my favorite race weekend of the year makes this moment even more special.”

— Logan Misuraca

DAYTONA BEACH, FL, UNITED STATES, December 8, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ — Rising NASCAR talent and Florida native Logan Misuraca is officially returning to the track where it all began, as she is set to compete in the ARCA Menards Series 200 at Daytona International Speedway to open the 2026 ARCA National Series season. Misuraca will pilot the No. 85 Orlando Health Ford Fusion with City Garage Motorsports.

A racer since just four years old, Misuraca has built her career from the ground up — from quarter midgets and karts to stock cars — through relentless determination, entirely sponsor-funded efforts, and a reputation for thriving under pressure. Unlike many drivers with family-funded backing, Misuraca continues to actively seek partnerships with brands that believe in her talent, work ethic, and long-term vision as she climbs the NASCAR ladder.

Beyond the track, Misuraca is also the founder of 1 in a Million, a mental health and motivation initiative created to support athletes and individuals facing adversity, as well as the creator of Drive Dollars, an educational platform that teaches grassroots racers how to secure sponsorships, build their brand, and create sustainable racing careers.

Daytona International Speedway holds deep personal significance for Misuraca. Through her time at NASCAR Racing Experience, where she logged daily laps at Daytona, the high banks became her training ground — shaping her race instincts, comfort in traffic, and mastery of pack racing.

“Daytona has always felt like home to me,” said Misuraca. “With my experience in the draft and at high speeds, this is the perfect place to showcase my skillset as we open the ARCA National Series season. Being a Florida local returning to my favorite race weekend of the year makes this moment even more special.”

Misuraca’s 2026 Daytona return carries added weight, as her last start at the superspeedway came in 2023, followed by seasons spent grinding to secure the sponsorship funding required to return to competition at the national level.

“To be back at Daytona in 2026 after everything it took to secure my return is incredibly meaningful,” Misuraca added. “Every race I compete in represents countless hours of outreach, pitching, and persistence behind the scenes.”

Misuraca returns to the superspeedway with gratitude and momentum as she continues to break barriers for women in motorsports.

“I’m incredibly grateful to City Garage Motorsports, Stuart, Mike, and Ryan for trusting me with this opportunity and believing in what I bring to the track,” she added. “This is bigger than just a race — it’s about representing the Female First and Girl Power initiative, building opportunities for women in the sport, and proving that we belong at the front of the field.”

Alongside Misuraca’s Daytona start, CGM will field Becca Monnopoli and Quinn Davis in the ARCA East Series in the No. 85 and No. 5, further strengthening the team’s commitment to women in racing.

“I’m so proud of Becca and Quinn and excited to watch what they accomplish this season,” Misuraca said. “Every lap they run opens doors for the next generation of girls in our sport.”

With Daytona as both her proving ground and homecoming — and with momentum building on and off the track through racing, advocacy, and education — Logan Misuraca enters 2026 ready to make a statement on one of motorsports’ biggest stages.

Stay tuned for more announcements throughout the 2026 season.

Logan Misuraca
Logan Misuraca, LLC
logan@loganmisuraca.com
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Motorsports

Start Your PRI Show With Mario AndrettiPerformance Racing Industry

Published

1 hour ago

December 8, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Racing legend brings decades of excellence to the Grand Opening Breakfast, setting the tone for three days of innovation and connection.

Start your 2025 PRI Show with motorsports icon Mario Andretti, who will be the featured guest at the 2025 PRI Show Grand Opening Breakfast, a time-honored tradition that officially kicks off the world’s largest gathering of motorsports professionals. The breakfast takes place Thursday, December 11, in the Sagamore Ballroom at the Indiana Convention Center. Doors open at 6:30 a.m. EST, with the program starting at 7:30 a.m. EST. Arrive early; seating is limited.

Andretti will join motorsports broadcaster Ralph Sheheen for a candid Q&A session that promises to inspire and energize the industry. Andretti’s attendance is made possible by The MagnaFlow Group.

Map Your Show Mario Andretti

Andretti’s career is a masterclass in excellence, versatility, and longevity. From winning the Formula One World Championship in 1978 and the IndyCar National Championship four times, to capturing victories at the Indianapolis 500, Daytona 500, the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of LeMans, his name is etched into the history of nearly every major motorsports discipline. Beyond the track, he has translated his competitive spirit into thriving business ventures that continue to engage fans and fuel the racing community.

Equally important, PRI will announce the 2025 PRI Hall of Fame inductees during the breakfast. Established in 2024, the PRI Hall of Fame honors the outstanding achievements and contributions of individuals and entities in the motorsports industry, preserving their legacies and inspiring future generations.

The Grand Opening Breakfast takes place December 11, in the Sagamore Ballroom, located on the second floor of the Indiana Convention Center. Doors open at 6:30 a.m. EST, with the program starting at 7:30 a.m. EST. Arrive early; seating is limited.

Not yet registered for the PRI Show? There’s still time to attend the world’s largest gathering of motorsports professionals. Click here and pick up your badge on-site.

Already signed up? Start planning all your show activities with the PRI Show Planner (best for desktop) or the PRI Show App (best for mobile). Maximize your time in Indianapolis with easy access to the floorplan, exhibitor lists, upcoming events, expert-led educational sessions, can’t-miss autograph sessions and a lot more.

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Motorsports

2025 PRI Show Brings Multiple Sim Racing Events and Competitions to IndianapolisPerformance Racing Industry

Published

3 hours ago

December 8, 2025

Your Sports Nation

The 2025 PRI Show, December 11-13, downtown Indianapolis, features a showcase of sim racing, esports innovation and hands-on motorsports experiences with multiple activations at the Indiana Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Leading organizations, including DALLARA-AK ESPORTS, Podium 1, SIMCraft, SRO America and Team America/Init Esports, will bring professional-grade simulators, competitive events and educational programming to attendees during the Show.

“SIM racing has grown into an exciting part of the motorsports world, and the 2025 PRI Show brings multiple activations together in one place,” said PRI President Michael Good. “Attendees have the chance to see top competitors, test advanced simulators, and experience the energy of esports racing firsthand. This lineup highlights the innovation, talent, and collaboration that make the PRI Show a must-attend event for the motorsports community.”

SRO America Expands the SIM Racing Arena

SRO America returns to the 2025 PRI Show with an expanded SIM Racing Arena, putting the spotlight on the fast-growing world of sim racing and motorsports innovation. The event features daily invitational races with top esports competitors competing on professional-grade rigs, including Fanatec Clubsport GT cockpits, DD-Plus Direct Drive bases, Clubsport pedals and MSI 49-inch monitors powered by high-performance MSI gaming PCs. These setups provide the precision, realism and performance used by professional drivers worldwide.

All competitions will stream live on SRO Motorsports Twitch and GTWorld YouTube, giving fans across the globe front-row access to the action. Beyond racing, the arena offers interactive demos, hands-on experiences with cutting-edge sim hardware, educational sessions and panel discussions with industry experts, highlighting the latest advancements in sim technology and its growing influence on the motorsports industry.

Podium 1 Showcases Turnkey Systems, New Products, and Pro Driver Activations

Podium 1 brings a full lineup of professional-grade sim technology to the PRI Show, giving attendees the chance to test industry-leading 6DOF, 4DOF and 3DOF motion systems featuring Qubic Motion Systems and Vero Motion platforms. The activation includes multiple new product unveilings, including the Simucube SC3 Pro, Simucube Co-Pedals, BDH Active Shifter, VPG Porsche Wheel and more.

Special guest Tony Kanaan joins the Podium 1 lineup alongside the Arrow McLaren NTT INDYCAR SERIES team, offering attendees opportunities to meet the racing legend and compete against his lap times for chances to win official McLaren items. Autograph sessions with Kanaan are scheduled for Thursday from 11:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. and 2:00-2:30 p.m., and Friday from 10:00-10:30 a.m. A McLaren Arrow IndyCar and a Radical SR3XXR will also be on display for photo opportunities.

PRI Show Sim

Team America Debuts the Nation’s Best at PRI Show — Powered by Init Esports

Team America, powered by Init Esports, is bringing the nation’s top sim-racing competitors to the PRI Show for an in-person showdown. The top 12 athletes from the 2025 TEAM AMERICA Talent Scouts Competition powered by MOZA Racing have earned their place in the national finale at the PRI Show. On Saturday afternoon they will go head-to-head in the TEAM AMERICA Time Trial Challenge racing live on MOZA Racing equipment in front of manufacturers, media and motorsport leaders. PRI attendees can also compete by setting hot laps at the Team America booth on Thursday and Friday for a chance to earn one of the final spots on the Saturday grid.

“Team America is all about taking our incredible online community and putting it side-by-side in real life, and there’s no better place to do that than at PRI,” said Stefy Bau, founder of Init Esports.

DALLARA-AK ESPORTS Gets Attendees Behind the Wheel

DALLARA and AK Informatica launched DALLARA-AK ESPORTS earlier this year, a joint venture aimed at establishing Indianapolis as a global hub for sim racing. At the PRI Show, attendees can compete on Assetto Corsa Competizione simulators, racing GT cars on historic tracks. The activation gives fans a chance to experience the precision and excitement of professional-grade sim racing while engaging with one of motorsports’ most innovative partnerships.

“From interactive demos to live competitions, the SIM racing activations at PRI 2025 show how technology and motorsports continue to evolve together,” said Karin Davidson, PRI Show Director. “We’re proud to offer attendees opportunities to engage, learn, and compete in a hands-on environment while connecting with the top organizations and emerging talent shaping the future of the sport.”

The 2025 PRI Show is on track to be one of the largest in nearly two decades with more than 1,000 exhibitors, including over 100 first-time participants, reflecting the Show’s continued growth and influence. Motorsports contribute $69.2 billion to the U.S. economy and support over 318,000 jobs, according to PRI’s Motorsports Economic Impact Study. The PRI Show helps drive that momentum by uniting industry leaders, emerging talent, and cutting-edge technology to strengthen the sport’s economic foundation.

Registration for 2025 PRI Show

The PRI Show draws attendees from all 50 states and around the world, including race teams, retailers, engine builders, fabricators, media, and others. To register, book hotel accommodations, and learn more about the 2025 PRI Show, visit PRI2025.com/Attend.

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