NASCAR released the second instalment of its year-long 75th anniversary campaign on 28 May – leveraging the 29 May Coca-Cola 600 race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway – as it continues to honour its past and drive a path to its future through a season-long, multi-platform celebratory marketing programme.
The second phase was spearheaded by a film titled ‘NASACAR 75: Roads that carry us forward’ fronted by series legend Dale Earnhardt Jr, created by long-time agency partner 77 Ventures Creative working with Boomshot Productions.
The 30-second commercial, which was helmed by Director Sinuhe Xavier and filmed at Caraway Speedway in Sophia (North Carolina), runs across television and digital platforms throughout the summer. It dropped digitally on 26 May and debuted on-air during FOX’s telecast of the Coca-Cola 600.
The spot centres around legend of the sport Earnhardt Jr whilst also highlighting a leading group of current drivers – including Daniel Suárez, Bubba Wallace and Chase Elliot – following in the legend’s footsteps. The footages features Earnhardt Jr racing on a track at night intercut with shots of his own triumphs alongside the unique journeys of several NASCAR Cup Series stars of today. The visuals are backed by the icon’s narration outlining the various different roads drivers take to reach NASCAR’s elite and the singular direction they all aim for – ‘Forward’.
Among the current drivers featured are 31-year-old Daniel Suárez (who drives the No 99 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing co-owned by Justin Marks and global music star Pitbull) who became the first Mexican-born driver to win a Cup Series race in 2022, 29-year-old Bubba Wallace (of the No 23 Toyota) who drives for 23XI Racing (a team co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan and current Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin) who became the second Black driver to win in the Cup Series in 2021 and 28-year-old Chase Elliott (who drives the No 9 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports) who won the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series championship, has 18 Cup series wins, and has been voted by fans as NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver the past five consecutive years.
“The current generation of NASCAR stars are carrying on the enormous legacy of the legendary figures who helped build NASCAR,” said NASCAR SVP and CMO Pete Jung. “This creative execution is a testament to the pursuit of excellence that defines NASCAR and the resilience of our tenacious competitors. We’re grateful to Dale for his enthusiasm in helping deliver this message, and to our incredible creative partners at 77 and Boomshot for bringing it to life with such authenticity.”
“We were thrilled to help NASCAR honour their 75th-anniversary by making this beautiful film with them. Working with Dale Earnhardt Jr. again was a true highlight and an apt reminder of the sport’s powerful and ongoing evolution,” added Boomshot MD Meredith Weiss. “We’ve collaborated with NASCAR many times over the years, so paying tribute to the sport’s incredible history felt really personal to all of us.”
“NASCAR’s growth is really important to me, and it’s great to see the sport expanding with so many talented racers from different areas and walks of life as the sport continues to evolve,” added Earnhardt Jr himself (who was recently named one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers). “It was an honour to be included in this campaign to help celebrate where NASCAR has been and where it’s going as part of the 75th anniversary.”
The team that spearheaded the campaign’s conception was 77 Ventures Creative included Managing Director Meredith Weiss, Copy Writer Galen Bernard, Art Director Doug Hanshaw and Executive Producer Kim Daniels.
Production, Post-Production and VFX was handled by Boomshot with Director Sinuhe Xavier, Head Of Production Krysia Johnstone and Line Producer Rebecca Donaghe with additional post and VFX from The Mill Los Angeles and music and sound by Sonic Union.
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The ‘#NASCAR75 Always Forward’ campaign first rolled out in February 2023 and the third instalment is scheduled to roll out immediately ahead of the start of the ‘NASCAR Playoffs’ which will begin on 3 September at Darlington Raceway.
The celebratory, season-long campaign was conceived and created by long-time NASCAR partners 77 Ventures Creative: an independently owned advertising agency founded in 2007 with offices in New York and Nashville.
The agency described ‘NASCAR 75: Always Forward’ as “an ode to NASCAR’s evolution from humble beach beginnings to America’s No 1 motorsport: a year-long celebration of the sport’s past, present and future”.
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