NASCAR’s 75th anniversary came at a seminal moment, with a business and leadership imperative to broaden the audience and supercharge consumer engagement. Our kick-off: the Daytona 500, the biggest race event of the season. Working closely with FOX sports, our brief was to make Daytona the ultimate launch platform and set the stage for increased engagement for the entire anniversary season. We had to consider every touchpoint, from the TV coverage to digital and social to the race event itself.

Our activation idea: The 75 Car. What better way to embody winning innovation than in the most advanced race car NASCAR has ever seen? Working with NASCAR engineers, we created the 75 Car, an entirely modern, technologically advanced car that could literally and figuratively bridge generations of racing. The 75 Car thus served as the throughline for the activation campaign at the Daytona 500 and as the core asset for entire anniversary season.

NASCAR has a rabid fan base that eats, drinks and breathes the sport. In a sport as close and competitive as racing, winning means finding that single edge, the way to push the envelope to be first across the finish line. What keeps NASCAR fans riveted is the search for that innovation, the key to shaving the mere seconds off the race that makes a winner. NASCAR has a storied history of car-hacks and hijinks to get to that edge; our brief was to take this enduring and fan-motivating truth and find a modern expression of it to optimize the fan experience both on- and off- the racetrack.

The 75 Car was the centerpiece of our NASCAR Daytona Experience. We did a full press tour and teased the event in social. We launched the first of three anthemic films, using CGI to demonstrate how the car was a direct descendent of the stock cars our fans love. On site, the brand experience was complete, featuring the 75 Car at its core, as well as:

• Additional show car and trophy displays

• Driver Q&A sessions and autograph sessions

• Photo opportunities

• Bill France Cup trophy display

• IRL, digital games and challenges

To kick off the race, the 75 Car was ushered out by legendary drivers and introduced to the next generation of talent, bridging past and present. And the 75 Car served as the pace car, building up excitement for the race itself. Our activation made the Daytona 500 bigger, better and more captivating than ever.

Our post-event survey of ticket holders returned excellent results:

• 96% of guests were satisfied with their event experience; 66% highly satisfied

• 95% of guests are likely to recommend; 81% very likely

• 80% of guests are likely to return next year; with 62% very likely

• 94% of guests who visited the display were satisfied with the NASCAR Experience; 67% highly satisfied

• 86% of guests are likely to visit the NASCAR Experience at other tracks (with 58% very likely to visit

The campaign also also saw some of our highest engagement metrics ever:

• 22.6 million social impressions, with nearly 5 million video views – +50% vs. 2022

• 2.94 million site visits, +24% YoY

• 15.6 million page views, +41% YoY

• 1.1 million video views, +16% YoY

NASCAR trended #1 on Twitter before, during and after the race, with NASCAR 75 trending as well.