NASCAR Playoffs.

Second-tier sports like tennis, golf, boxing, and NASCAR have passionate fanbases, but casual interest is pretty low and new fan acquisition has been next to impossible.

Because we knew hardcore NASCAR fans would already be watching, the only pool we could dip into to boost ratings and engagement was with the causal or new NASCAR fan. But that decision came with a major challenge: how could we get these people to become interested—and actually watch—in the NASCAR playoffs? We felt that the only way to get these fans to tune in would be to give them a real rooting interest in the outcome of the races.

Taking our cue from sports docs which dive deeper into athletes’ personalities both on and off the field, we decided to do the same thing for NASCAR and its Playoff drivers. This way, fans could see what’s under the helmet and, through the drivers’ own words and stories, give them something tangible to root for—or against.

Below is just a handful of the 30+ pieces of original content we created for the 10-week 2017 Playoff season.