DirecTV yesterday launched a NASCAR bracket competition that will award $400,000 to a driver's charity of choice and $1M to any consumer who fills out a perfect bracket. Known as the DirecTV NASCAR Head2Head Challenge, the competition features 32 Sprint Cup drivers in head-to-head competition over four races in August: Pocono, Watkins Glen, Michigan and Bristol. The participant with the most accurate picks will win a brand new truck from the manufacturer of the winning driver. If a participant picks every single head-to-head winner correctly, he will win $1M. It is the second year of the promotion, and DirecTV Senior Dir of Advertising Josh Stern expects more than 200,000 people to participate. Stern said the company uses the promotion to raise the profile of its NASCAR HotPass service, which offers four dedicated channels to four drivers and their in-car audio. Stern said, "Last year, we had a lot of interest in DirecTV and a lot of people watching the HotPass. The $1 million was good at getting people to realize DirecTV has the HotPass content for the avid NASCAR fans who want to see more."
