IndyCar Series and Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials recently announced that, within the next month, they will open an office in Santa Monica, Calif., to make further inroads into the media and entertainment industries.

“If we want to grow the sport, we need to be fully vested in relationships with the entertainment community that can tell the story lines of our sport,” said IndyCar Series CEO Randy Bernard. “This will be a one-stop shop to pursue opportunities and make deals across multiple business lines and entertainment outlets.”

Sarah Nettinga will manage the new office and become senior vice president of media and entertainment for IndyCar Entertainment. Nettinga brings extensive experience to the initiative from her time building similar relationships with Hollywood in her previous role with NASCAR.

At NASCAR, Nettinga developed and produced film and television shows with third-party producers, managing production for NASCAR of three motion pictures: “NASCAR 3D: The Imax Experience” for Warner Bros., “Herbie: Fully Loaded” for Disney and, as an executive producer on “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” for Sony. For television, she was responsible for six series, with the most ground-breaking being “NASCAR Driver: 360” for FX.

Before joining auto racing, Nettinga was a production executive at Warner Bros. International Television Production. She also has worked for Columbia Tristar Television, CBS, Petry Television, Westinghouse International and Sony International Television in roles that involved development, sales, production, branding and marketing in the entertainment industry.