Yahoo Sports Brent Dewar replaced as NASCAR president after just 14 months
To say that NASCAR is experiencing a serious leadership transition may be an understatement.
The series announced Thursday that NASCAR President Brent Dewar would be replaced by Chief Operating Officer Steve Phelps on Oct. 1. Dewar’s run as NASCAR president will conclude before he officially reached 15 months in the role.
The change at president comes as NASCAR CEO Brian France is on a leave of absence after his DWI and drug possession arrest on Aug. 5. France entered a not guilty plea regarding the charges earlier this week.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled to have Steve Phelps as our leader,” Interim NASCAR CEO Jim France said. “His passion for NASCAR and proven ability to work with our partners has been unparalleled over the years. We thank Brent for his service and leadership to our sport. His energy and vision have been of tremendous benefit to our employees and our industry.”
Jim France, Brian’s uncle, was named the series’ interim CEO after Brian France said he would go on leave. Curiously, the word “interim” does not appear in front of Jim’s title in the NASCAR release announcing Dewar’s departure.
Phelps is the NASCAR executive who said in July at Pocono that he thought “there’s a misconception out there that sponsorship in NASCAR is not doing well, and that’s not true.”
The laughable comments came on the heels of 5-Hour Energy’s departure from Furniture Row Racing and were an apparent attempt at trying to assuage fans and observers that the sponsorship crisis in NASCAR was not, in fact, a crisis.
In the time between Phelps’ comments and his official promotion, Furniture Row — the team that won the 2017 Cup Series title — has announced its shutting down at the end of the season because of the shortfall that 5-Hour’s departure created. Hendrick Motorsports has still not announced a replacement for Lowe’s either. The home-improvement company announced this spring that it would stop sponsoring seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson at the end of the season. Lowe’s has been the only sponsor of Johnson’s career.
The NASCAR landscape is quite fluid
Dewar is being moved into a consultant role with NASCAR. Like Phelps, he was the series’ COO before he became the president. When Dewar was named NASCAR president on July 17, 2017, the NASCAR release said “Dewar’s promotion to President is in following with NASCAR Chairman & CEO Brian France’s vision for a more inclusive and strategic NASCAR.”
NASCAR is facing a host of changes over the next couple years. Monster, the title sponsor of the Cup Series since 2017, is leaving after 2019 and NASCAR has said it’s revamping the title sponsorship model for its top series. The series has been kicking the can down the road when it comes to adding mid-week races in the face of sliding television ratings and has been unable to seriously revamp the schedule because of a sanctioning agreement with host tracks that expires in 2020.
There has also been no announcement regarding the car rules that NASCAR teams will have to conform to in 2019. NASCAR tried significant horsepower and aero changes to make the racing visually closer during the All-Star Race and those changes could come to points races next season. Many drivers have been adamant against NASCAR making those changes because the rules made the cars much easier to drive.
There’s also the elephant in the room regarding a potential sale of NASCAR by the France family. A report emerged earlier this year that at least a portion of NASCAR could be for sale and the report has never been explicitly denied.
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
Follow @NickBromberg on Twitter
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