This past weekend, Formula 1 was in Las Vegas for the Las Vegas GP and Denny Hamlin attended the event. With Hamlin at the event, there had to be some NASCAR talk of some sort.
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One of the biggest projects in NASCAR over the past few years has been trying to grow the fanbase. Hamlin has been vocal about this in the media and on his podcast "Actions Detrimental: With Denny Hamlin." As a team owner, Hamlin has been more involved in trying to get more fans into the sport because more fans means a bigger return on a team owner's investment.
Hamlin spoke with Susan Wade of "AutoWeek" about the correlation of Formula 1 at Las Vegas and the potential of growing the NASCAR fanbase.
"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?" Hamlin said. ""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."
If this event can help gain any new fans, that is from free advertising for NASCAR. This is motorsports and NASCAR didn't have to put in any money to advertise themselves.
Hamlin was seen with Lewis Hamilton during the weekend. Hamilton is arguably the most popular driver in the world, so having Hamlin talking with him, might peak Hamilton fans' interest in NASCAR. Maybe Hamlin might even have piqued Hamilton's interest in driving in NASCAR in the future.
Meanwhile on Denny Hamlin’s IG story… #NASCAR 🤝 #F1 pic.twitter.com/lVcA8kzziH
— Nick DeGroot (@ndegroot89) November 17, 2023
Time will tell if F1's Las Vegas Grand Prix will help grow the NASCAR fanbase, but Denny Hamlin thinks there is a chance that NASCAR gained some fans from the event.
