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Attention NASCAR Fans: XFINITY To Replace Nationwide Series

The second-biggest series in NASCAR – the Nationwide Series  – will now be called the NASCAR XFINITY series. NASCAR announced Wednesday at the NASCAR Hall of Fame that Comcast Cable's XFINITY internet service will be the title sponsor for the series for the next 10 years.

The Nationwide series is like the minor leagues of NASCAR and XFINITY is Comcast Cable's internet service. So that's why NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France is particularly excited about the partnership.  

"The fact that they're an innovative company with both distribution and technology in video and being the lead internet provider – that's exactly what we're trying to do at NASCAR – in a different way," France says. "We're trying to embrace technology wherever we can to either lower costs or make the experience a better one for our fans."

France says one reason the deal with XFINITY makes sense is because NASCAR is already a partner with Comcast on the television side. Last year, NASCAR announced an $8.2 billion, 10-year deal with NBC and Fox. NBC was acquired by Comcast last year.

Driver Regan Smith says he thinks partnering with a technology company as a series sponsor is a big deal.

"We have to have young people excited about racing like we all are," Smith says. "The main thing is getting to the young people who get their information in different ways than how even I did when I was a kid or my parents did when they were younger."

NASCAR officials did not disclose how much the deal is worth.