The championship has officially commenced the search for its new CEO following the sudden exit of James Warburton at the start of last month.
Supercars has engaged Sports Advisory Partners to run a recruitment process, which Nettlefold told Speedcafe should take six to eight weeks.
Nettlefold took over as interim CEO following Warburton’s departure amid suggestions he could look to hold onto the role on a permanent basis.
The former Swimming Australia chief has been somewhat in the background as chairman since putting together the RACE consortium that bought Supercars in 2021.
Although not ruling out staying on in the high-profile and demanding CEO position, Nettlefold said the recruitment process must play out first.
“We’ve started the process in regards to the CEO replacement, and that process is well underway,” Nettlefold told Speedcafe at Symmons Plains.
“There’s in excess of 40 candidates already that have put their name up, so there’s big demand.
“At the end of the day we’ve got a board, we’ve got governance to work with.
“We’ll see what comes out of the process first and what the head hunters have for us.”
Claims that Nettlefold wants to install Crompton in the role have swirled since the duo were seen celebrating Toyota’s first Supercars victory together in Taupo last month.
Crompton, 65, was ousted from his long-time position as lead Supercars commentator under a shakeup of the broadcast spearheaded by Warburton ahead of this season.
The Hall of Famer has since taken up a motorsport advisory role with Toyota and a consulting position with Brad Jones Racing.
Warburton’s own exit from Supercars has opened the possibility of a remarkable turnaround, should Crompton want the role.
“I’ve encouraged him, I’ve said that I welcome him to be in the process. Absolutely,” confirmed Nettlefold.
“Neil’s got a lot of experience in the sport, he’s got a lot of friends in the sport.
“I think he’s been great for sport and I’m encouraging anyone that feels they want to put their hand up for the role, they should.”
Crompton was also sounded out for the Supercars CEO role the last time Warburton left the company at the end of 2017.
He declined at that time citing the complexity of the position, but subsequently declared he’d “never say never” to future opportunities.
The Daily Telegraph reports that others contacted about the Supercars CEO position include Brisbane Broncos CEO Dave Donaghy, former AGPC chief Andrew Westacott and ex-F1 race director Michael Masi.
Westacott led the Australian Grand Prix Corporation between 2011 and 2023 and is understood to have been among the final candidates for the Supercars position when it came up last year.
Nettlefold meanwhile appears to be comfortable sinking his teeth into the job, confident in his ability to lead the sport after a near five-year apprenticeship as chairman.
“I’ve been very encouraged by the staff’s support and the stakeholder engagement,” he said.
“We’ve been across the sport for a period of time now. I understand the machinations of the sport better than in the first 12 months.
“When we were bought into the sport and led it at the start as chair, we had Gen3, we were coming out of COVID, it was challenging.
“We had a lot to do, and I think if you look at what we’ve achieved in the last four and a half years, we’re seeing the fruits of that now.”
This article first appeared on Speedcafe.com, a sister site to MotorRacing.com.