Daniel Suarez comments on the Houston race that “It’s really freaking close” but he wins, and he’s one of the new drivers getting the spotlight in Netflix’s Full Speed. He’s one of eleven drivers who got the spotlight out of NASCAR’s top 16 of last year.

For brevity’s sake this piece will discuss nine drivers. The 2024 season, like all seasons, has sixteen drivers who make the playoffs, and one such driver in Full Speed is Chase Briscoe, dealing with too many issues. He shuttles all over America back to Mooresville, North Carolina, to do outreach with children.

Briscoe has a lot of screen time, just like Harrison Burton and his fiancee Jenna Petty, both of whom are so young. It goes without showing that Full Speed is the opposite of the film Talladega Nights. A lot of the racers here are matinee idols, men who cook with their fiances.

Christopher Bell is another of the season’s wife guys. This year, Bell is trying to break out his ‘underrated’ shell while being careful to follow rules. Denny Hamlin is also a loving husband, keeping the season’s good trend but he gets into fights at track level and is the show and sport’s default antihero. He may lose races but he wins the A plot this season.

Hamlin co-owns the 23XI team, boasting drivers like Tyler Reddick, calm despite the team’s NASCAR lawsuit. Spoiler alert, but Reddick, despite being newer than Hamlin, gets farther into the 2024 playoffs. This season, thank God, shows Hamlin’s level headedness, spending downtime with Reddick.

Another contender is William Byron, who got into racing because of computer games at home. Despite that, the media brands him as a threat to others vying for the championship. This season, he spends less time in front of the computer and more time doing NASCAR press.

Penske has two contenders for the championship during 2024, both having claims to the championship. Joey Logano fights for his rights even if he gets Top 8 placement because of technicalities. Ryan F–king Blaney wants to run it back after winning it during last year’s playoffs. 

Full Speed seems like a defense for a sport that people outside the industry dismiss. I come from another sport that others dismiss, cheerleading, one that has its own dangers. This season shows POV footage of cars burning and crashing, which drivers try to avoid.

Full Speed follows understandably similar visual cues as other sports documentary series. This season, taking notes from the last, has more infographics for those new to the sports. And then, the action slows down, just before it ramps up the final race and may the best driver win.

Stream Full Speed on Netflix.