May 4, 2025; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace (23) drives during the Wurth 400 race at Texas Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
NASCAR is exploring the idea of holding a race at Franklin Field, pennlive.com reported Friday.
NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell spoke about the idea to the Associated Press Sports Editors organization earlier last week in New York. He noted that the Philly venue is similar in some ways to the Los Angeles Coliseum, which hosted multiple exhibition events in the last few years.
"When you look at opportunities, one of the places we looked around with the Coliseum was in Philly, Franklin Field," said O'Donnell. "It was one of the only ones that we could put a race track inside of because of the Olympic size track. Those are the types of things in a city we’re going to look at because the days of just building a rural track are over."
NASCAR Cup Series cars going down the ramp, past the USC football locker room and into the tunnel to reach the LA Coliseum racetrack. #ClashAtTheColiseum pic.twitter.com/YbgY3HNOvX
O'Donnell said that NASCAR is still in the "pretty early" stages of considering a Philadelphia event. But he believes there's an appetite for holding a race in the area.
"If you look at Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and you look at short track racing, there’s a huge, hardcore short track market with a lot of local fans who love racing in general . . . Those areas are still a bit underserved."
The home of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1958 through 1970, Franklin Field now hosts University of Pennsylvania athletics and the annual Penn Relays.
