NASCAR Celebrates Best Racing in Years with Return of Ready. Set. Race Marketing Campaign

Following a season highlighted by some of the closest, side-by-side racing NASCAR® fans have seen in years, NASCAR today announced the return of its 2017 season launch marketing campaign, Ready. Set. Race.

The new integrated campaign, including television creative promoting the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series™, will launch during the 2017 DAYTONA 500® on Feb. 26 (2 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NASCAR fans received a first look at “Sensory Overdrive” today on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. A 30-second thrill ride, the spot brings to life the high-stakes drama and intensity drivers experience competing in the sport’s premier series.

The campaign also includes social media videos featuring Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers shared this week and throughout the season.

“The Ready. Set. Race campaign was so popular with our fans last year that we couldn’t wait to bring it back with even more intense racing action,” said Jill Gregory, NASCAR senior vice president and chief marketing officer. “The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series creative is unlike any advertising we’ve ever done. Monster Energy has built a bold, edgy brand, so we wanted to deliver creative that first and foremost is NASCAR but that also complements our new entitlement partner.”

The new Ready. Set. Race creative was developed in conjunction with agency partner 77 Ventures and acclaimed commercial director Gary Land. Additional creative breaking Sunday on FOX includes “A New Season,” an action-packed, 60-second spot that accentuates the NASCAR racing experience across all three national series.

Building on the Names Are Made Here® positioning, NASCAR will air “The Path” promoting the NASCAR XFINITY Series and featuring the sport’s up-and-coming drivers during the season-opening PowerShares QQQ 300 at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 25 (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The new creative will be available on NASCAR.com and shared via NASCAR social platforms as part of a busy weekend on social media. The DAYTONA 500 Hour Countdown social campaign in partnership with FOX will continue up until Sunday’s green flag as FOX and NASCAR post original DAYTONA 500-themed content on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.  

The first Snapchat Live Story of the season is planned for DAYTONA 500 race day. NASCAR XFINITY Series driver Darrell Wallace Jr. will serve as Live Story correspondent and bring the sights and sounds from the track to users across the world using Snapchat Spectacles.

Earlier this week, NASCAR and Twitter launched a DAYTONA 500 Twitter emoji. Every time a fan Tweets with #DAYTONA500, the colorful, waving flags of the DAYTONA 500 logo appear in the Tweet. Fans can also expect unique, behind-the-scenes content all weekend from NASCAR on Facebook and Instagram.

For additional coverage of The Great American Race®, fans can visit Race Center on NASCAR.com.

Tickets to NASCAR national series events are available at NASCAR.com/tickets.

NASCAR PR