Twitter and NASCAR will again put racing fans in the virtual driver’s seat, expanding their live-streaming deal with 15 races during the second half of the 2018 season.
Under the pact, Twitter will live-stream one in-car camera on for 15 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races this year, including all 10 NASCAR Playoffs races and five regular-season races. The live-streamed races, which will be available only to users in the U.S., will carry ads but the parties declined to disclose details of the advertising arrangement.
NASCAR debuted the in-car camera live stream on Twitter during last year’s NASCAR Playoffs. Of the 10 featured drivers, four of them — 2017 Cup champion Martin Truex Jr., along with Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski — each scored race wins.
“We’ve created an experience that brings Twitter users inside the cars at speeds of more than 200 miles per hour,” NASCAR chief marketing officer Jill Gregory said.
Starting in July, the races will be available via the @NASCAR handle on Twitter and nascar.twitter.com, . In-car camera video from the races also will be available on the NASCAR Drive streaming site and mobile apps. Meanwhile, full broadcasts of the NASCAR races will be broadcast on NBC or NBCSN and streaming via NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app.
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Twitter’s live-streaming NASCAR races for 2018 will include July 7 from Daytona International Speedway; Aug. 5 from the road course at Watkins Glen International; the Aug. 18 night race at Bristol Motor Speedway; the Sept. 2 annual throwback event at Darlington Raceway; and Sept. 9 from Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
As with other live video programming on Twitter, the NASCAR races will include a real-time, curated timeline of tweets about the events. “We are thrilled that NASCAR will make its in-car cameras available on Twitter in 2018,” said Laura Froelich, Twitter’s global head of sports partnerships. “NASCAR fans will once again be able to access these unique in-car cameras at the same speed as the real-time conversation, all in one place on Twitter.”
In addition to the live-streamed races, NASCAR will post real-time race highlights on Twitter.
