The future of NASCAR is being shaped by this woman. Her vision for racing is bold.

This year in NASCAR has been unlike any other. From the pandemic to the Confederate flag ban to global NBA icon Michael Jordan announcing his entry into the sport, the world of stock-car racing will never be the same after 2020.

But for Jill Gregory, one of NASCAR’s highest ranked executives, change has been a long time coming.

Since her arrival in 2007, Gregory has embraced a growing leadership role at NASCAR, in which her ambitious work ethic and progressive vision as chief marketing officer has permeated all facets of the sport to guide it into its next era — an era that will see more diverse faces, voices and ideas.

“Jill has demonstrated a bold vision in evolving our marketing,” a statement from NASCAR president Steve Phelps said. “And is very aggressive in pursuit of new ways to engage and grow the NASCAR fan base.”

Around the same time The Observer received Phelps’ statement, NASCAR released its 2021 schedule, which incorporates the greatest number of new tracks since 1969. Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR’s chief racing development officer, called it a “bold step” toward evolving and building the schedule with fans in mind. In fact, O’Donnell and NASCAR vice president Ben Kennedy used the word “bold” 12 times when referring to next year’s schedule.

So let’s be clear: The future of NASCAR — in its own words — is bold. So too is Gregory’s vision.

When asked why she thought Phelps tapped her to join the sport in a transition from her executive role at Bank of America, Gregory’s answer fell in line with what others said about her: “The interest in innovation and trying something different,” she said.

And when asked why she has stayed in the sport for over a decade, becoming the first female CMO in NASCAR history in 2016, as a Northern California native with no NASCAR roots, Gregory answered it was a combination of the close-knit nature of the industry, the unique racetrack experience and the sport’s emphasis on branding and partnership opportunities.

“And then for me, personally,” Gregory added. “The ability for me to continue to affect change has been the thing that’s kept me at NASCAR for probably longer than I might have expected.

“Each time we go through a transition or there’s a new opportunity, really, I feel like I’ve had the ability to affect change and direct us in a place or bring NASCAR along in a growth path that has been really rewarding.”

INFLUENCER INFUSION FOR NASCAR

From her entry into the sport, growth has been her goal, but there has been no clear route to success in transforming the NASCAR brand, long known as an exclusively Southern sport and sanctuary for the “Good Ol’ Boys,” to a body simultaneously recognizable for its diverse faces.

Certain marketing efforts, while bold, have been met with some level of criticism. For example, Gregory oversees NASCAR’s social and digital marketing team, which recently released a video campaign for the 2020 playoffs. The first video in the series features entertainer Mario Lopez explaining the playoff structure by using the game of bocce as a metaphor.

“I know how the playoffs work already, but now I’m confused,” wrote one fan on Twitter.

When asked about the mixed responses, Gregory countered that the video series was experimental and its target audience was not NASCAR’s core fans. Gregory said her team was well aware its existing fans know how the playoffs work.

“It was meant to be a fun way to kind of create some buzz — good, bad or indifferent — to get more eyeballs on the sport,” Gregory said.

The idea developed as NASCAR became aware of an unprecedented number of influencers and professional athletes, such as Alvin Kamara, LeBron James and Bernard Pollard Jr., engaging with NASCAR for the first time this summer following the sanctioning body’s ban of the Confederate flag and the outspoken role driver Bubba Wallace, the only African-American driver in the Cup Series, embraced amid nationwide protests against racial injustice.

Gregory said the campaign was intended to serve as an introduction to NASCAR for new fans with explainers from recognizable celebrity figures, especially since viewership trends have indicated that ethnically diverse audiences have increased their engagement with NASCAR this year. Former NFL running back LaDanian Tomlinson, for example, was featured in another video on Facebook as a preview for the race at Bristol.

“That’s the way the infusion of digital and social into our marketing plans has really helped,” Gregory said. “Because you can try video content series and little excerpts of NASCAR without investing a multi-million dollar advertising campaign against it.”

NASCAR’S SOCIAL STRATEGY

Under Gregory’s leadership as CMO, NASCAR has shifted its advertising dollars away from television to focus on social media and digital campaigns. Her work with drivers and teams on brand development has also included feedback on digital strategies and social engagement as much as communicating about the overall direction of the sport.

For example, Gregory informed Denny Hamlin that the announcement of his formation of a new Cup team with Michael Jordan generated 1.3 billion social conversation impressions on Twitter, which is roughly 16 times more impressions generated by the announcement that driver Matt Kenseth was returning to racing in April.

This weekend at Talladega, an Xfinity car driven by 20-year-old Hispanic driver Ryan Vargas will feature TikTok as its sponsor, and there is no doubt Gregory’s team oversaw the creation of promotional content highlighting the partnership.

“I really think Jill has led the movement for our sport to become more progressive across the board,” Roush Fenway Racing team president Steve Newmark said. “And that sounds simple, but that’s a pretty difficult cultural shift when you’re involved in a sport that has been so successful for so long doing it a certain way.”

Newmark, who has worked with Gregory since joining NASCAR in 2010, said he feels the sanctioning body’s leadership team has been increasingly willing to try new things, especially this year. He said Gregory is typically in the camp of, “We’re not going to reject something just because that’s not the way that we’ve done it in the past.”

“And I think that’s been one of the reasons she’s been so successful at moving us forward,” Newmark said, adding that those initiatives have included NASCAR’s pivot to esports and iRacing, launching more partnerships with sports betting platforms and the recent reinvigoration of its diversity and inclusion initiatives.

CHAMPIONING CHANGE FOR NASCAR

Diversity and inclusion have become Gregory’s personal mission, she said. Following the killing of George Floyd and NASCAR’s Confederate flag ban, the sport announced in June the creation of a new role of vice president of Diversity and Inclusion filled by Brandon Thompson, a graduate of NASCAR’s Diversity Internship Program and a 17-year veteran of the industry.

In the position, Thompson oversees the sport’s Drive for Diversity program and all initiatives related to engaging more women, people of color and members of the LGBTQ community with NASCAR, while reporting directly to Gregory.

“(It’s a) constant flow of emails and exchange of ideas and questions and just discussion back and forth,” Thompson said. “About how to move these initiatives forward both internally and externally.”

“Her level of engagement,” Thompson added. “I’m not sure how to quantify it, but I’d say it’s as high as it could be.”

Thompson said he’s already seen a ton of progress in the D&I space during his time in NASCAR and that the creation of the position felt like “just the next, natural evolution into that prior to anything that even happened in 2020.”

Gregory also said the sport’s Diversity and Inclusion efforts have been a long-stated goal, but now the program is under her leadership at a time when the inclusion of more women and people of color feels like a “personal mission.”

“I feel like it’s a part of my job that I have a responsibility to push and take care of,” Gregory said. “Not just because it’s a goal of the company, but because it’s a way that I can make a difference.”

She said that in addition to helping drivers reach the highest level of competition at the Cup level, she is working to promote greater diversity in senior leadership positions within the sanctioning body, as well as in roles at various tracks, in engineering departments and, of course, within NASCAR’s fan base.

“That’s been a stated goal for a while now,” Gregory said. “Is to get younger and more diverse because we want NASCAR to be open and welcoming to all. And if we’re going to continue to grow, we’ve got to put NASCAR in front of fans that maybe had not considered us before.”

She said she knows there is still more work to do in the D&I space and it will continue to be a personal project for her, but if there is one bright spot she will take from the year 2020 in NASCAR, it will be the growing diversity she’s helped create.

“If we lead from the front at the sanctioning body, I think that we can bring our teams, our tracks, along with us,” Gregory said.

“And really make an impact on the composition of the sport.”