Netflix gives NASCAR fans a look behind the scenes of the 2023 playoffs in episode one of the new docuseries, NASCAR: Full Speed. The five episode docuseries focuses on several of the drivers who made the NASCAR playoffs in the 2023 season. It tracks the racing from the regular season finale in Daytona to the season finale in Phoenix. Along the way, dreams will be realized while hearts will be broken.

NASCAR: Full Speed Episode One – Playoffs or Bust

The emotional heart of this episode came in the battle for the final playoff spot. Bubba Wallace and Ty Gibbs were vying for that final playoff spot going into the final regular season race. Under NASCAR rules, if someone who hadn’t won a race previously won that day, both would be eliminated. However, Chris Buescher won the race meaning one of the two in the points battle would make it.

Viewers can feel the heartbreak from Gibbs when he was caught up in a wreck that ended his playoff chances in his rookie season. Gibbs, the grandson of legendary NFL coach and NASCAR owner Joe Gibbs, won the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship before moving up to the Monster Energy Cup Series in 2023. The rookie was in the running, but Daytona is a wild card every season.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, viewers got to see and hear the elation from Bubba Wallace. NASCAR’s only Black driver at the top level is the lead driver for 23XL racing, a team owned by fellow driver Denny Hamlin and NBA legend Michael Jordan. Bubba made the playoffs in his first year with the team, and was happy to make it back in his second season. Hamlin and Jordan expect top level performance from their driver, and it’s up to Bubba to deliver.

Through it all, the series also shows class and sportsmanship between rivals. Joe Gibbs owns the cars driven both by his grandson, Ty, and Denny Hamlin. Still, he made an effort to congratulate Bubba on making the playoffs despite the face his team and grandson were the ones who came up short. Gibbs lived up to the saying “rivals on the track, respect off it.”

NASCAR: Full Speed Episode One – Denny Hamlin, NASCAR villain

Denny Hamlin is a straight forward, no-nonsense racer and that creates some issues with NASCAR fans and other drivers. The series gives a look at Hamlin’s home life as he and his girlfriend raise their kids while he’s constantly on the road. Hamlin also hosts a NASCAR podcast that can be a lot of fun but also creates a lot of trouble.

Hamlin was open on his podcast about what decision he would make if he were in a position to decide which of the two playoff contenders clinched the final spot. He and Ty Gibbs are teammates, but Hamlin owns Bubba’s car. Denny declared he would help the car he owns over his teammate. It’s a prudent business decision. The most telling comments on the Hamlin’s declaration came from Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale has been both a driver and owner in the past and remains an owner today. Junior told the audience he would make the same decision Hamlin did; he just wouldn’t have announced it to the world during the season.

Hamlin is also a big believer in receipts. This comes up as the Gibbs drivers and Hendrick drivers have been having a rivalry for the past several years. Hamlin responds when people wreck him and expects the same from others. It’s not a bad philosophy but often puts him at odds with his fellow drivers and their fans.

NASCAR: Full Speed Episode One – William Byron, the Young Gun

The rest of episode one focuses on the points leader heading into the playoffs, William Byron. The Hendrick Motorsports driver broke out of the shadows of his more accomplished teammates during the 2023 season. Byron won five races during the regular season. But, as the series shows, his path to NASCAR’s top level was different than most drivers.

While most drivers came up through driving series that allowed for younger drivers, William Byron learned how to drive a car on the computer. He competed in the iRacing series before finally stepping inside the car. Still, Rick Hendrick recognized the skills he learned through virtual racing and decided the young driver was a project “worth working on.”

The docuseries also pays close attention to Byron’s personal life. Byron is currently engaged to the daughter of former NASCAR driver, Dave Blaney. Erin Blaney is also the sister of current NASCAR driver, Ryan Blaney, who competed against Byron in the 2023 NASCAR playoffs. The episode shows the supportive relationship between William and Erin. It’ll be interesting to see how future episodes depict the relationship between William and Ryan.

NASCAR: Full Speed Episode One Rating

Through one episode, this series has given a nice behind-the-scenes look at two of the drivers that competed in the 2023 NASCAR playoffs. While it’s nice to see a little bit about what makes popular racers tick, it’s still not really a big deal in the grand scheme of things. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t presented in a way that felt necessary. Family is meaningful but the presentation needs to be stronger on those segments.

However, the focus on the final race of the regular season got my heart racing. Having watched the NASCAR season, I already knew the outcome, but I still enjoyed the interactions between Bubba Wallace, Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs and Denny Hamlin. I hope the final four episodes have more of that in them.

This series was hyped as NASCAR’s version of Formula One’s Drive to Survive docuseries. There’s a lot to like about this series, but I don’t think it holds up as well as the F1 series through one episode. Hopefully, the other four are stronger.

Rating: 3.5 stars

All episodes of NASCAR: Full Speed are currently streaming on Netflix.

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