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Tim Clark grew up around the sport of NASCAR. Now senior VP and chief digital officer for the association, his professional marketing career evolved alongside the digital space. In 2012, one of the most well-known brands in motor racing had brought its digital rights back in-house (from Turner), and Clark came aboard to oversee the re-launch of its platform.
NASCAR had effectively been running an esports program for ten years, through a partnership with racing simulator iRacing 
. With the recent uptake in esports initiatives from traditional sports leagues, it was time to expand. “Both our investment and resources have stepped in, starting in 2019, to continue managing and overseeing the digital group, but also adding esports to the fold there,” said Clark on a recent episode of the TEO Podcast.
The eNASCAR brand encompasses multiple competitions, most notably the eNASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series; which is built around iRacing, uses recreations of real-life NASCAR tracks, and requires a full steering wheel and pedal set. Over the years, the competition has produced professional drivers on the real-world NASCAR track, such as Parker Kligerman and William Byron. As Clark explains, it functions not only as a tool for driver training, but driver development. “There are NASCAR teams, driving at the cup level, that have iRacing simulators in the race shops, and will have their drivers during the week.”
Related Article: In the Sim Driver’s Seat, With NASCAR and iRacing
The recently launched eNASCAR Heat Pro League , on the other hand, is a console racing series; a partnership between the association, 704Games , and Race Team Alliance. As NASCAR events take place squarely in the weekend, one of the benefits of an esports series is it allows for more midweek content.
“We have talked a lot about [the] bifurcation of content,” said Clark. “You’ve got platforms like Twitch, which will allow you to reach a huge audience, but I start to wonder about our connectivity back to those viewers. Do we put more content on our owned and operated channels, and our own social media platforms?”
While this may be one of the challenges NASCAR has for bringing in ROI for its esports efforts, the need for realism opens up a lot of opportunities, so far as sponsorship and branding is concerned. “The benefit to a lot of these sponsors is that any sort of activation they have on track can be replicated on the virtual world.”
When asked what the biggest misconception is around esports, Clark echoed many professionals from more endemic esports titles; that professional gamers are in a basement, playing for several hours a day. “They are smart, business-minded, in a lot of ways entrepreneurial individuals,” said Clark.
“This is something they enjoy doing, that they know there’s a market for, that they know putting the practice in will ultimately pay dividends.”
