What hit, and what missed in season 2

Season 2 of NASCAR’s Netflix docuseries, NASCAR Full Speed, has officially dropped — all five episodes are now available for streaming. Once again, it focuses in on the playoffs and the 16 drivers fighting for the championship, presented in a way that doesn’t overwhelm the casual viewer or someone who doesn’t watch the sport at all. It did its job in simplifying the rather complex system that decides the champion every year.

It features the following drivers most heavily: Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Daniel Suarez, Chase Briscoe, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick and Harrison Burton. Through the lives of most of these drivers, this show reveals its strength. It wants the viewer to connect with them on a real, personal level, executing it well. Their favorite method is to use the wives/girlfriends (as well as some other family members) to paint a deeper picture of each driver, and I think it was used to perfection. It’s a similar formula to what the show’s producers did in the first season.

Real people with real lives

The off-track content was perhaps the most compelling aspect about it. The normally reserved Byron opens up about seeing a sports therapist, Julia Piquet offers some of the best soundbites when voicing her frustrations over the lack of speed in Suarez’s car, and Briscoe has to deal with fighting for a championship with a team that’s about to shut down…while his wife Marissa is expecting twins at any moment — with all of these storylines playing out during the playoffs.

We spend time with Suarez’s father and learn more about his role in setting NASCAR’s lone Mexican driver on a path to the Cup Series, while Jeff Burton shows some tough love for his son Harrison after he lost his ride at Wood Brothers Racing.

I could go on, but these were all fantastic ways to show weekly watchers a side of the sport they normally don’t see, and to give new viewers an introduction to some of the sport’s stars.

We also spent some time with Suarez and Blaney’s pit crews during mid-week training, and my only complaint about it is that I wanted more of it. There were some great moments there, especially with Blaney and his crew. I also wanted to see them delve further into the preparation that goes into all this, like when they showed Suarez on the simulator or Bell looking over data before Homestead.

A lot of people have no idea what goes into preparing for a NASCAR race weekend and shining a brighter light on that can only be a good thing. The show did it, so kudos for that, but it would have been great to pull back that curtain a lot more.

I love how they took time to really build up the personalities of each driver and present them as their own unique package before their own pivotal playoff moments. At the track and on TV, they sometimes seem a bit too similar with the same PR-trained lines and sponsor shoutouts. But here we get to see them be ‘real,’ sharing stories from their personal lives and interacting with their loved ones in a way that makes it hard for anyone watching not to connect with them. 

However, they also tread some old ground from the previous season, like the narrative around Bell being overlooked, and Byron getting his start on iRacing. It wasn’t egregious, but those same beats did show up here and there.

Tyler Reddick and Michael Jordan, 23XI Racing Toyota

Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Fitting it all in

But what about how they covered the races themselves? I think it was good, if not a little straightforward. While the focus is clearly on the playoffs, it would have benefitted from showing some of the other dramatic moments playing out simultaneously as there’s so much going on in these races. We had the incredible last-lap battle for the win between Chris Buescher and Shane van Gisbergen at The Glen that was left out, as was Kyle Busch’s heart-wrenching error while trying to keep his win streak alive at Kansas. Just peppering those in throughout the dominant playoff storyline would have been good as some of the races felt a little empty or looked like there was nothing going on beyond the title contenders, when that clearly wasn’t the case.

The Alex Bowman DQ was handled well, making it really feel like a shocking twist. Logano’s reaction to being back in the playoffs, as well as highlighting his unique mindset on luck were both great as well. I also liked the way they positioned cliffhangers, really pushing you roll into the next episode even if you weren’t planning on binging it all in one sitting. I enjoyed hearing some interesting conversations on pit road between drivers and their teams as there were a few head-turners there, especially with the No. 11 team talking about their JGR teammate in the No. 20. And a side note here, but Marty Smith is once again the best part about the industry insiders providing context throughout each episode.

Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford

Photo by: Chris Graythen – Getty Images

Handling the Martinsville controversy

They highlighted the importance of teamwork in these important races, but there was one piece of teamwork that was glaringly absent. And perhaps this is my biggest gripe, but I can also understand why they didn’t want to bog down the championship story with it. I mean, they very much wanted to move on from as it was happening in real time, but no matter how uncomfortable, we needed to tell the whole story of the Martinsville cut-off race.

Play the radio communication, show the Chevrolet blockade behind Byron, and whatever was going on Wallace, as well as the fallout including the massive penalties. Instead, they just focused on Bell and his hotly debated contact with the wall. 

So, that was a little disappointing, but they at least covered the moment with Bell and Byron well as both dramatically sat on pit road while race control decided their fate. Morgan Bell, and her rollercoaster of emotions as that all played out, really made the scene. 

Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Photo by: Jonathan Bachman – Getty Images

Feeling the stakes

Onto the finale itself. I was curious how they were going to handle this because, honestly, it was not the most exciting race. So props to the show because they did a really impressive job of making it feel extremely tense from start-to-finish. Some of the races felt a little tedious as they went through it, but not Phoenix, despite this particular race taking up more runtime than any other race in the show. They made sure you felt the stakes and what was on the line.

The final montage wrapping up the season for each of the featured drivers was pretty cool as well, and I loved the soundtrack throughout the entire docuseries.

Now, it wasn’t an Emmy-winning piece of media in the end, but it was a perfect way to introduce new people to the sport while also giving some interesting snippets to those paying attention every single week. And because of that, it accomplished its mission. Again, my only real complaint is simply wanting more of what they were already giving me.

My notes for Season 3: Just give me more behind the scenes, a deeper look into what goes into being prepared for the next race, meeting some crew members and learning about them, and highlighting the other dramatic moments that make up these dynamic race weekends.

Oh, and don’t gloss over those uncomfortable, but critical moments either.