NASCAR fan and actor/comedian Kevin James will star in and serve as executive producer of a new NASCAR-themed series called “The Crew,” set to debut later this year on Netflix.
James will reportedly play an old-school crew chief at odds with modern tech-savvy millennials, with the show set in a NASCAR garage.
NASCAR senior director of content development Matt Summers and chief digital officer Tim Clark will also be involved as executive producers.
James has been a star in both TV and the movies, including the TV comedies “King of Queens,” “Kevin Can Wait” and “Everybody Loves Raymond”, as well as a number of movies including “Paul Blart: Mall Cop (1 and 2),” “Here Comes The Boom” and “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.”
James is a big NASCAR fan and has served as grand marshal and given the command for drivers to start engines several times at races over the years by himself, as well as with friends Adam Sandler and Shaquille O’Neal.
Here’s arguably one of the most memorable start engines commands James has ever given, prior to the start of the 2007 Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway:
Hey - I'm the guy who's writing/running the show. We're going to be respectful and as realistic as humanly possible - we're fans, and the people at NASCAR have gone out of their way to connect us with the teams so we get it all right.
— JeffLowell (@JeffLowell) September 5, 2019
Agree 100%. Our goal is to not have it ring false to fans. And although Talladega Nights was funny, that’s not at all the tone we’re going for.
— JeffLowell (@JeffLowell) September 5, 2019