Have you ever found yourself at the edge of your seat during a NASCAR race, shouting out strategies and wondering why your favorite team just isn’t making the ‘right’ call? That’s precisely the dilemma that Fan Controlled Sports & Entertainment stepped in to fix last year during the Xfinity Series finale. After helping Football fans control their favorite teams and call the shots for two seasons, Fan Controlled Sports extended that exciting opportunity to NASCAR fans at Phoenix Raceway.
For the first time, fans could channel their inner Rick Hendrick and Coach Gibbs, helping out the team and voting on strategic decisions. But that wasn’t all. The NASCAR community also got the chance to pick the driver of the #8 SS Green Light Racing and design the official paint scheme from the Control app. That said, though JJ Yeley’s outing in the fan-controlled car ended with a DNF last time around, the community has been gifted another opportunity to redeem themselves this very weekend!
Fan Controlled Racing reveals their 2024 challenger for Talladega Speedway
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For the 2024 Xfinity Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, Fan Controlled Sports is once again teaming up with SS Green Light Racing to give literal control back to the fans, this time, over the #14 Chevy Camaro. With only a handful of moons to go before the action kicks off for the Ag-Pro 300, defending favorite J. J. Yeley lost his crown to Mason Massey. The new Control driver will be getting behind the wheel of the #14 adorned with the ‘Indigo Warrior’ fan-designed paint scheme.
It was only a few seasons ago that action kicked off for the organization’s ‘tech-influenced’ football league which allowed fans to control everything from team names and branding to even deciding on individual plays on the field. After the heartbreaking announcement for football fans that FCSE would not continue with a third season of their new concept, the rebirth of the Xfinity Series car shows great promise for the future of fans having a say in racing and strategic calls.
With an investment of over $40 million raised during Series A funding from companies like Verizon and Animoca Brands, FCSE had entered the Football market to capitalize on their new concept. However, executives believed that “low cash reserves” and “challenging capital markets” made it difficult for the Fan Controlled Football League to continue. That said, it seems like the rather refreshing idea has finally found an ideal home in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
The world of NASCAR has greeted the idea of controlling an Xfinity team with great reception. Heading into this weekend at Talladega, it will be crucial for the #14 SS Green Light to not just finish, but also deliver a solid result if the NASCAR community wants the Fan Controlled car to return once again next season.
Now that Mason Massey is all set to take over for J. J. Yeley as the fan-controlled driver, the 27-year-old Georgia native shared high expectations from the #14 this coming weekend.
Can the NASCAR community lead the Fan Controlled #14 and Mason Massey to glorious redemption?
Despite the 2023 debut of the Fan Controlled Car failing to deliver after Yeley spun and failed to finish, this weekend at Talladega serves as the perfect shot at redemption for fans and their strategy calls. With the #14 set to be driven by Mason Massey, the pressure is now on both fans and the budding racer to help bring home a solid result for SS Green Light. That said, Massey’s expectations from this weekend couldn’t be any higher.
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Reflecting on winning the fan vote, Massey was delighted to share a few words with the fans. He stated, “Thank you to Fan Controlled, SS Greenlight, and everybody involved, definitely can’t wait to get to Talladega, it’s always a fun race, always super exciting there, so it should be a lot of fun to watch, hopefully, our #14 car can have a good finish there and possibly victory lane, I guess we’ll see, but super thankful to everybody who voted, thank you so much, appreciate it.”
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The full-time Truck Series driver believes his appearance in the #14 Chevy could not only result in a top ten or a top five but the win. And at a track like Talladega, winning would mean great things are in store for the Fan Controlled car’s future in NASCAR and the Xfinity series.
After taking a look at all the fanfare building up around their #14 entry, do you think we’ll get more than just a DNF this time?