NASCAR will break a new ad campaign during next weekend’s Daytona 500, with one spot promoting the Busch Series and another promoting the Craftsman Truck Series. Each commercial will air once during the weekend’s broadcast and then will continue to run throughout the year during Nextel Cup, Busch and Truck broadcasts as well as on Speed Channel. Roger Vandersnick, managing director of brand and consumer marketing for NASCAR, said the second and third legs of the campaign will air later this season. Each leg features a commercial promoting the Busch Series and one promoting the Truck Series. Vandersnick said the cost of the campaign is in the $5 million to $6 million range. In the Busch Series spot, defending champion Martin Truex talks about the thrills and challenges of racing in the Busch Series. À la “Mission Impossible,” Truex rips off his “mask” and it turns out to be veteran Nextel Cup driver Mark Martin, who says, “And that’s why I like racing in the NASCAR Busch Series.” Like many Nextel Cup stars, Martin also races part time on the Busch level. In the Craftsman Truck Series spot, the close racing action on a high-banked track freezes. A spokesman then walks onto the track, standing among the frozen trucks, and talks about the great side-by-side racing as he struggles to make his way between the trucks, which are literally positioned bumper to bumper. Boone Oakley, a Charlotte-based ad agency, produced both spots. Special effects were done by Framestore CFC, the visual effects and computer animation company that also did the movie “MI2.”
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New NASCAR pitch puts spotlight on Busch Series champion Martin Truex.
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