DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR President Steve Phelps is sitting in his office overlooking Daytona International Speedway. You can see and hear race cars turning laps around the 2.5-mile World Center of Racing. On the shelves behind him are artifacts that represent the perfect mix of where NASCAR has been and where it is going.
There are a lot of hats. A glass-encased signature Richard Petty cowboy hat. A ballcap from the newly reopened Nashville Superspeedway. A red hat with white block letter embroidering that reads, “Put The Stock Back In Stock Car Racing.”
The 59-year-old Phelps is entering his fourth full season on the job. The second year brought the COVID-19 pandemic, during which the sport also found itself on the frontline of the fight for social justice as the sanctioning body banned Confederate flags from its racetracks. The third season brought a slow emergence from the restrictions of the pandemic.
Now, with season four comes the project Phelps has pushed since his first few months in this office, the arrival of the technologically advanced, cheaper-to-build Next Gen racecar, which will make its Daytona 500 debut Sunday, two weeks after it raced on an asphalt bullring built in the center of the L.A. Coliseum.
With all of that on his mind, he has been in meetings this week that his assistant describes as, “Sun-up to sundown, every single day and night.” But as Phelps settles into his chair with the awesome view, he doesn’t look tired. He looks energized. Energized enough to hit a broad range of topics in this Friday afternoon exclusive interview with ESPN.com.
Ryan McGee: I have asked you this before, but never during Daytona 500 week. Do you sleep?
Steve Phelps: This week, not as much as I usually do, but that’s not because of stress. I’m just busy. Honestly, I…
Source : espn
