NASCAR returns to Darlington this weekend, but this time with fans in the stands.getty images
NASCAR’s 2020 Cup Series playoffs start this weekend at Darlington Raceway, and postseason marketing plans include deeper collaboration with media partner NBC and a celebrity content series to explain things to new fans.
The stock car series was one of the first sports to return during the pandemic, resuming its season at Darlington on May 17. Despite the pandemic, NASCAR’s season has progressed to the start of the 10-race playoffs that will complete its 36-race campaign, and now Darlington is in the spotlight again by holding the first race of that stretch for the first time.
Darlington has gotten approval to host up to 8,000 fans for this weekend’s race, which will be part of the annual NASCAR Throwback weekend that started at the track in 2015. The race is now called the Cook Out Southern 500 after Cook Out replaced fellow Southern-based QSR Bojangles, which ended its longtime title sponsorship of the Southern 500 after last season.
Pete Jung, NASCAR’s senior vice president of marketing, said that given the glut of sports content and programming in the marketplace, the sanctioning body decided to simplify this year’s marketing and just work directly with NBC Sports to co-create this year’s playoff marketing. NASCAR and NBC will use the same creative and graphics around the playoffs, instead of having varying takes.
The initial ad debuted on TV this past weekend during the regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway, and the spot focuses on the different tracks that comprise this year’s playoff slate, which was altered from the 2019 version and features several of NASCAR’s most thrilling tracks, including Martinsville and Talladega.
From there, Jung said that NASCAR will make creative using storylines from the playoff races to drive the theme.
“All of the creative and advertising is going to be very fluid so we can just hone in on different storylines,” Jung said. “The initial piece [that debuted last weekend] is focusing on what distinguishes the playoffs from the regular season.”
To that point, NASCAR has developed an influencer content strategy related to educating new fans of the sport about how the playoffs work. NASCAR is working with five celebrities — agreements were being finalized at press time — who will make videos throughout the playoffs explaining the different rounds of the postseason.
One other effort by the sanctioning body is a project where it will pair all 16 playoff drivers with a different celebrity influencer who will make and share a social video talking about the driver’s run in the postseason. NASCAR is hoping this will help continue to spread the sport to new fans.
