LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 16: WWE Champion Chelsea Green poses with WWE Women’s United States Champion belt and the Toyota GAZOO Racing Supra official pace car before the Pennzoil 400 NASCAR Cup Series race on March 16, 2025, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, NV. Green will be the honorary pace car driver for the race. (Photo by Jeff Speer/LVMS/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
When Greg Stimmel joined NASCAR as Senior VP and Chief Commercial Officer in 2024, he brought with him a playbook written by the sports, spectacle, and storytelling of the WWE where he led global sales and partnership.
The WWE and NASCAR might seem worlds apart, one scripted, one not, but Stimmel sees a striking similarity.
“I think WWE and NASCAR are similar and different all at the same time,” Stimmel said. “When you look at how WWE is constructed… it’s very much about the everyday American, right? And how do you speak to them and how do brands tell stories in that way? That was the through line.”
His mission then: translate the showmanship, engagement, and brand storytelling he honed at WWE to the racetrack, all without undermining NASCAR’s authenticity. “When we were able to tell a story in a different way for a brand at WWE, it’s the same thing we’re trying to do with brands here in NASCAR now,” Stimmel said. “It’s about blending tradition with creativity—bringing fans and sponsors into the sport without being on-the-nose or heavy-handed.”
That WWE experience shapes how he approaches one of NASCAR’s biggest challenges: helping brands navigate an ecosystem that is as much about culture and lifestyle as it is about cars and speed. “We’re very unique as a company where we can take storytelling from the league level down to the track level and partner with teams, and tell that story in such a way that not a lot of other sports can,” he said.
Stimmel points to the competitive product, the close finishes, parity among teams, and unpredictable races, as the hook that draws fans in and keeps brands engaged. That drama, that tension is NASCAR’s secret sauce. It’s what gives sponsors genuine, high-stakes moments to associate their brands with.
But authenticity is just as important as excitement and the WWE lessons aren’t limited to storytelling; they extend to timing, spectacle, and emotional engagement. He compares NASCAR’s biggest races to WrestleMania moments: “Each track has its own personality, and each race has its own. If you want to partner and tell a camping story, Talladega is the spot. Daytona 500? That’s our WrestleMania. It’s the biggest show, the flyovers, the pageantry—it’s a one-of-a-kind moment for any brand.”
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Looking ahead, Stimmel sees the potential for further evolution. “We’re going to create new assets that we might not even know about yet. Maybe something floating in Lake Lloyd at Daytona. Maybe a rooftop experience. There’s a million things we could do that other sports can’t replicate. That’s our secret sauce.”
For brands, the message is clear: NASCAR offers more than a logo placement. It provides a narrative, a moment, and a connection. And for Stimmel, WWE’s lessons in spectacle, storytelling, and fan loyalty have proven a perfect primer for bringing that vision to the racetrack.
“With the competitive product, the story, and authentic engagement, we’re not just selling sponsorships—we’re giving brands a way to be part of an American cultural touchstone,” Stimmel said.
As for the future of NASCAR and its partnerships, the goalpost is ambitious but set to a level by what’s already been achieved by sports like Formula 1 and the NFL.
“I think invariably what those guys have been able to build over the course of time is extremely impressive, right?” Stimmel says. “And I think that it’s taken them years, if not decades, to get there. And that’s what our aspiration should be, is to go up and do that. So I think that every– League has a unique element. And I think to that point, the NFL is on for whatever it is, 18 weeks, right? And we’re on for 36. And that to me is our secret sauce, is that we are on throughout the year.
We are connected to Middle America unlike anyone else. Our resonance back with the heartland of America and who we are and how we’re going to talk about the brand is very unique. So I think we’ll continue to tell our story, but do I think we have a seat at the table soon? I think so.”
In other words, NASCAR’s playbook for brands isn’t just about selling to an audience, it’s about being part of American culture, every week, all season long. Stimmel’s WWE-honed approach proves that when spectacle, story, and authenticity align, sponsorship becomes something far more compelling than a name on a car: it becomes an experience fans want to be part of.