Much like the highly anticipated Super Bowl commercials, NASCAR corporate sponsors are getting in on the ad appeal action and using the Daytona 500-NASCAR's version of the Super Bowl-as the launch event for a new year of advertising to NASCAR fans. UPS is one such company.
"Race the truck" has become a universally popular theme in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series garage area since UPS first introduced the campaign in 2001. The phrase knows no particular fan group, as Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart fans alike cheer Dale Jarrett on to race the big, brown truck.
In 2005, Jarrett finally agreed to race the truck. UPS officials set about on the daunting task of making the UPS package car race ready, from wind tunnel tests to capability tests. The 2006 round of commercials feature an all-new UPS package car-at least on the inside.
The newly modified UPS Race Truck is featured in the commercials, and while Jarrett is not quite racing the big, brown truck, he is testing it. The result is a set of five new commercial spots that feature the power, speed and ability of the UPS Race Truck. As reported earlier in January, Jarrett's teammate Elliott Sadler gets in on the action this year, burning the tires off the UPS Race Truck while "giving it a try."
Jarrett, who humbly takes praise for his part in the commercials, explains that it is the talent of the advertising agency that makes his "acting" appear Oscar-worthy.
"I think they know what they have to work with, so they make it pretty easy on me," Jarrett said, referring to his acting skills. "I think I have even less words in this year's commercials, but when you see them you'll see why. They're pretty good and I think everybody is going to get a kick out of this year's commercials."
While Sadler makes a cameo appearance in the 2006 UPS commercials, so does the vehicle of another NASCAR Nextel Cup Series competitor-Tony Stewart, the reigning Nextel Cup Series champion. Some of the activities featured in the 2006 UPS Race the Truck commercials include a scene where the brakes of the UPS Race Truck are put to the test, while in another spot a fan and his son are treated to the full force of the truck as it makes a lap around the track on the heels of the #38 M&M's® Ford Fusion of Elliott Sadler and the #20 The Home Depot Chevrolet of Stewart.
"Each and every year they come up with something different," Jarrett said of the 2006 commercials. "I have said this before but it is always two days of fun for me. UPS and the guys with the Martin Agency deserve all the credit for the concept because when you've got fans of all the other drivers hollering at you about racing the truck you know your campaign is going pretty well."
"Having Elliott (Sadler) there was obviously a lot of fun for me and I think he enjoyed being a part of it too," Jarrett added. "We're getting closer to racing the truck. I'm not exactly sure how all of this will end up or when I'll actually race the truck. They haven't told me that yet. Getting to that point is kind of like being at home getting your next instructions of what you've got to do there. Take out the trash, or pick up the cleaning-whatever it is, so they haven't told me when or where, but it is coming so keep watching."
