UNC names athletic director in waiting

UNC-Chapel Hill has named a NASCAR executive as its athletics director in waiting, while keeping its current athletic director, Bubba Cunningham, at the university through the end of the decade.

Why it matters: Cunningham, who was named athletic director in 2011, has been highly influential in guiding UNC both through an NCAA investigation during the 2010s and the transition of college athletics into the NIL and revenue-sharing era.

Driving the news: On Tuesday, UNC named Steve Newmark, current president of the NASCAR racing team Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, as Cunningham's heir apparent.

• Newmark will join the school in August as executive associate athletic director and focus on "revenue-driving initiatives." In 2026, the school said, he will become the athletic director.
• Cunningham signed a two-year contract extension until 2029 and will become senior advisor to the chancellor and athletic director after next summer.

Zoom in: Newmark, a Chapel Hill native and lawyer with a law degree from the University of Virginia, has worked in NASCAR for the past 15 years.

• He was also a member of the advisory committee that assisted in the hiring of Bill Belichick as football coach and will help select the next executive director of The Rams Club, a major funding arm of the athletics program.

What they're saying: Cunningham said he is committed to working on a succession plan that "positively" positions the future of the university's 28 sports teams — a number that will be harder to protect in the era of revenue sharing.