Objectives

NASCAR Social Media, NASCAR Productions and NASCAR Entertainment Marketing set out to create a piece of content that would create interest in Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s first race since missing much of the 2016 season. He would return to the car for the 2017 Daytona 500, the iconic first race of the NASCAR season.

Strategy and Execution

• Create a video featuring moments through Dale Jr. and Dale Sr.'s time together set to Zac Brown Band's new song, "My Old Man."
• Drive interest and awareness in the 2017 DAYTONA 500 and Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s return to the car.
• While the song was new, the story of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Sr. is one that has been told many times, so it took great care to identify the right moments to tell the story in a way that not only fit the theme of the song, but also felt like something new to fans.
• A majority of social video is often consumed without the sound on by fans, so making the video compelling enough for people to stick around and turn on the sound was a major obstacle.

Results

The video is NASCAR's most-viewed in the social content team's history, generating more than 32 million video views across NASCAR's channels.

The video even earned a strong reaction from Dale Earnhardt Jr. himself, who said the video "made my eyeballs sweat."

Media