Steve Phelps
Steve Phelps | |
|---|---|
 Phelps in 2018 | |
| President of NASCAR | |
| Assumed office October 1, 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Brent Dewar |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Steve Phelps December 23, 1962 Burlington, Vermont, U.S. |
| Spouse | Dina (div. 2024) |
| Children | 4 |
| Education | |
| Occupation | President, NASCAR |
Steve Phelps (born December 23, 1962) is an American motorsports executive. He currently serves as the President of NASCAR.
Early life
[edit]Phelps was born in Burlington, Vermont. As a young man, he attended stock car races at Catamount Stadium.[1]
He attended University of Vermont and was a member of the track team.[2] After graduating from UVM, Phelps obtained an MBA from Boston College.
Career
[edit]After graduating college, Phelps worked in New York City for American Home Products as a brand manager for Chef Boyardee and later at Guinness.[3]
In 1990, Phelps began working for the NFL, first as a marketing manager and eventually as a vice president of Corporate Marketing. He remained with the company until 2004.
After leaving the NFL, Phelps was recruited by Casey Wasserman to work at the Wasserman Media Group as head of global sales. After one year at WMG, Phelps left to work at NASCAR.
In July 2005, Phelps joined NASCAR, first as Vice President of Corporate Marketing. In January 2006, Phelps was promoted to Chief Marketing Officer. In January 2010, he was named Senior Vice President. In December 2013, he was named Executive Vice President. Phelps was named Chief Operating Officer in April 2018.[4]
At NASCAR, Phelps won Adweek's Sports Marketing Executive of the Year. He also won Adweek's Brand Genius Award winner in the “sports” category.[5]
In September 2018, it was announced that Phelps would be named the fifth President in NASCAR's history, succeeding Brent Dewar.[6]
As President of NASCAR, Phelps oversaw the merger between NASCAR and the track-owning organization, International Speedway Corporation. He also led the introduction of NASCAR's NextGen race car in 2022.[7] Phelps negotiated NASCAR's 2023 media rights deal, a seven-year, $7.7 billion in value.[8]
Phelps has also overseen significant innovation of NASCAR’s schedule, including the new exhibition event the Busch Light Clash at the LA Coliseum that debuted in 2022 [9], the NASCAR Chicago Street Race that debuted in 2023 and was named "Sports Event of The Year" at Sports Business Journal's 2024 Sports Business Awards [10], NASCAR’s first Cup Series points race in Mexico in 2025 [11], and the introduction of a new in-season tournament format debuting in the summer of 2025[12].
Under Phelps’ leadership, NASCAR launched NASCAR IMPACT in 2023, the sport’s social responsibility and sustainability platform, which included committing to a number of important sustainability benchmarks, including the goal of net-zero operating carbon emissions by 2035. [13]
Phelps was twice named to Sports Business Journal's list of "40 Under 40" list of influential sports businesspeople. [14]
In 2010, Phelps was featured on an episode of the television program, Undercover Boss.
Personal life
[edit]Phelps has four children, Katherine, Maddie, Jack, and Ryan.[15]
References
[edit]- ^ "NASCAR president Steve Phelps 'very bullish' on sport's future". Daytona Beach News Journal. Associated Press. February 14, 2020. Retrieved October 3, 2024.
- ^ "Steve Phelps '85". uvm.edu. University of Vermont. April 15, 2014. Retrieved October 3, 2024.
- ^ Gluck, Jeff (October 4, 2018). "How I Got Here With Steve Phelps". JeffGluck.com. Archived from the original on October 7, 2018. Retrieved October 3, 2024.
- ^ "SHRM Speaker: Steve Phelps". shrm.org. SHRM. January 1, 2018. Retrieved October 3, 2024.
- ^ "SHRM Speaker: Steve Phelps". shrm.org. SHRM. January 1, 2018. Retrieved October 3, 2024.
- ^ "Meet NASCAR's New President: Steve Phelps". autoweek.com. Autoweek. September 26, 2018. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
- ^ "Steve Phelps, President of NASCAR". Hope Global Forums. 1 January 2024. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
- ^ "NASCAR's Phelps calls media deal most important, difficult of his career". sportsbusinessjournal.com. Sports Business Journal. November 30, 2023. Retrieved October 3, 2024.
- ^ [: https://apnews.com/article/college-football-entertainment-sports-music-auto-racing-644328cb1d21d8f33309c39498450085]
- ^ [: https://www.nascar.com/news-media/2024/05/23/nascar-wins-event-of-the-year-at-2024-sports-business-awards-for-chicago-street-race/]
- ^ [: https://apnews.com/article/nascar-international-mexico-city-2025-cup-b10356560267f12805349ec696e4b53b]
- ^ [1]
- ^ [: https://www.forbes.com/sites/josephwolkin/2023/04/20/nascar-impact-is-created-with-a-major-goal-to-reduce-its-operating-emissions-to-zero-by-2035/]
- ^ "Steve Phelps '85". uvm.edu. University of Vermont. April 15, 2014. Retrieved October 3, 2024.
- ^ "Steve Phelps Biography" (PDF). The Business Journal. January 1, 2018. Retrieved October 3, 2024.