This PRI Founding Member brings NASCAR’s brand of short-track Friday- and Saturday-night racing to local venues across the US and Canada, while working to preserve the health and future of all motorsports.

As one of the largest sanctions in worldwide racing, NASCAR has tremendous reach among racers, fans, and businesses that support the industry. The Daytona Beach, Florida-based sanction is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year and looks to draw on its rich tradition and history as it commemorates the milestone throughout the 2023 season.

Some of racing’s most famous names are part of this legacy. Given that fact, it’s impossible for NASCAR not to look to the past for inspiration. But at the same time, the sanction is looking to the future, adding technical innovations, new tracks, and even entirely different forms of racing from the classic paved-oval format.

Most of the public spotlight is on NASCAR’s marquee Cup, Xfinity, and Craftsman Truck Series. But the organization also hosts its Weekly Racing Series, which adds depth and dimension to the sanction’s roster, while providing a means for up-and-coming drivers to gain entry into NASCAR.

The NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series races at more than 50 tracks throughout the US and Canada and boasts well over 10,000 members. Brett Tisdale helps manage weekly racing operations for this series, where he has worked for more than a decade. “We’re your short-track Saturday night racing,” he said. “We’re grassroots racing—at Saturday night shows from New Smyrna Speedway to Alaska Raceway Park—all across North America.”

Hosting a mix of long-term sportsman and career-oriented younger drivers, the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series operates as both a standalone series and as a feeder series for NASCAR’s upper ranks. “It’s definitely both,” said Tisdale. “Everyone has to start somewhere in racing, and that usually means local racing on Friday- or Saturday-night short tracks at one point or another. But on the other side of that, we have our diehard hobbyists. They don’t play golf. This is what they do for their hobby, and they enjoy the competition and camaraderie.”

According to Tisdale, the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series is running smoothly, having finally made it through the pandemic into some sense of normalcy now. But even “normal” can be a lot of work for a series of this scale.

“With COVID-19, there were some strange things with all the shutdowns, and it was a slow crawl back,” he explained. “But, to be 100% honest, this has been a great year, so far, going back to the end of last season. We’ve got a lot of momentum coming into this season, with 12 new race tracks coming on board, a great partner in Advance Auto Parts, and a great streaming platform with FloRacing. So I can’t say there’s been a lot of bumps in the road recently. NASCAR was first to lead the charge back to live sports, and that itself should speak for the organization as a whole.”

Throughout his motorsports career, Tisdale has been an avid supporter of PRI, regularly attending the Trade Show and being involved in the organization whenever possible. He noted that PRI’s value to NASCAR has always been in bringing people together—fostering connection. This enables the sanction to better stay in touch with racers, suppliers, and tracks, which is invaluable as the organization navigates changing tastes and shifting attention in its core audience and the general public.

“PRI is great at bringing people together who all have the same goals,” said Tisdale. “That’s not just strictly NASCAR, but motorsports as a whole.” Through the Trade Show, professional “racers can come and see vendors, meet sponsors, and connect with sanctioning bodies like NASCAR.”

With the long history of PRI involvement for Tisdale and NASCAR as a whole, it made sense for NASCAR to join the organization when the chance to become a Founding Member was presented. Tisdale credits Tom Deery at PRI with reaching out to NASCAR and demonstrating the value of membership and what it could do for the organization. “We always looked at PRI from a vendor trade show standpoint,” recalled Tisdale. “I’ve known Tom my whole 12 years here at NASCAR, so it came about organically. It was a natural fit.”

The NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series plays a key role in the development and overall health of racing throughout the US. But Tisdale emphasized that, despite the strength of the series, motorsports in America is under fire from forces that could significantly curtail the sport. To that end, he urges PRI Members to support legislation that protects motorsports, while getting out and seeing a local race whenever possible.

“I think everyone, especially us, wants to see weekly short-track racing grow. There’s nothing better than being live and local. So spend your Friday or Saturday night at a short track when you can.”