NASCAR frames the Xumo partnership as an expansion of digital accessibility, with VP Alma Angeles-Parvaz claiming the deal helps 'make the sport more accessible to fans across the country' and praising Xumo's 'focus on simplicity and discoverability.'
Insiders note that NASCAR previously drew 11 million views for Rising Season 1 on YouTube alone—making the six-month exclusive window with a FAST service feel like a step backward rather than forward for fan accessibility. The 14-day YouTube delay is raising eyebrows.
Season 2 episodes release monthly starting August, featuring drivers Carson Hocevar, Connor Zilisch, and Brenden 'Butterbean' Queen. Xumo Play holds exclusive streaming rights for six months after each final installment airs. The deal builds on a 2025 agreement that launched NASCAR's FAST channel on the platform.
NASCAR talks about accessibility while creating barriers—11 million YouTube views for Season 1, but now fans wait two weeks and face a six-month exclusivity wall. That's not expansion; that's a velvet rope.
NASCAR is making a bet on Xumo Play—and hoping nobody notices the house always wins. The racing circuit announced Tuesday that Rising, its behind-the-scenes docuseries chronicling stock car racing's next generation of stars, will exclusively stream Season 2 on Xumo Play, the free ad-supported streaming service operated by Comcast-Charter joint venture Xumo. Episodes drop monthly beginning in August, with featured drivers including Carson Hocevar, Connor Zilisch, and Brenden "Butterbean" Queen.
But here's where it gets interesting: under the distribution agreement, Xumo Play serves as the exclusive streaming home for six months following each episode's release, with episodes landing on NASCAR's YouTube channel a full 14 days after their original air date. That's a significant shift from how Season 1 performed. The five-episode first season drew 11 million views across YouTube and Fox Sports networks—a number that suggests the audience was already there, hungry for content, and finding it without barriers.
So why lock down Season 2 behind an exclusivity window on a platform that, while free, isn't exactly where diehard racing fans traditionally congregate? The deal builds on one reached in 2025 between NASCAR and Xumo for the launch of NASCAR's FAST channel on the service—a partnership Alma Angeles-Parvaz, VP of Partnership Marketing for NASCAR, described as helping to 'expand our digital footprint.' She added that Xumo's 'focus on simplicity and discoverability complements NASCAR's approach to storytelling and content, creating a strong alignment that helps us better serve fans.' Fern Feistel, Xumo VP of Marketing, offered a similarly polished statement: the deal 'underscores our commitment to the sport and to delivering premium programming that resonates with fans.' Premium is one word for it.
Others might point out that FAST services exist precisely because they offer lower-cost alternatives to traditional streaming—accessible, yes, but not exactly premium tier. The executive producer lineup reads like a who's-who of sports media veterans: Tim Clark and John Dahl from NASCAR Studios, alongside Connor Schell, Libby Geist, Aaron Cohen, and Tally Hair from Words + Pictures. Matthew Chase from Words + Pictures serves as director and producer.
Full Speed Entertainment—the production partnership between NASCAR Studios and Words + Pictures—is behind the project. The talent is there. The audience from Season 1 demonstrated the appetite is there. What's less clear is whether forcing fans to wait two weeks for YouTube access while Xumo holds exclusive streaming rights actually serves that audience—or serves someone else's agenda.
