Roger Penske says NASCAR is in good shape

Roger Penske

Ahead of Sunday's big Daytona 500, racing legend Roger Penske dismissed claims that his sport is faltering.

"I see the sport as stronger than ever from a competitive standpoint," he said on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street."

As the NASCAR season kicks off at Daytona 500, new questions have emerged about the state of stock car racing as both viewership numbers and admissions are seeing major declines.

NASCAR's television viewership is down 45 percent, and sponsors aren't paying even half what they used to as fans simply aren't showing up to the track, according to a recent report in the Wall Street Journal.

"I was the chairman of the Super Bowl in 2006 in Detroit where we had 70,000 people," Penske said. "When you think about NASCAR every single weekend, we have more fans than the Super Bowl brings every single weekend 38 times. And I would say when you pack and load social media and the connection to the drivers and teams I think we're in the best shape ever."

Penske said that his team's sponsorship also is strong. On Friday, Team Penske, which consists of frontrunners Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski, it was extending a seven-year deal with Shell-Pennzoil to sponsor two of his racers both on and off the track (NASCAR's Joey Logano and IndyCar's Helio Castroneves).

"Companies that scrutinize the marketing aspects of this and the returns are saying this is a great place to be," Penske added. CNBC