To the Average American motorsports fan, Formula 1 is nothing more than classy precision, follow-the-leader for the pompous rich and Europeans. NASCAR’s new pre-Daytona 500 promo praises the sport’s brash, full-contact history. Their new promo is justifiably titled “America, Start Your Engines,” and hell yeah it was beautiful!
The Promo
American Actor Scott Eastwood, son of legendary actor Clint Eastwood, plays the race fan’s hero, driving his shiny red Ford Mustang Dark Horse as both he and NASCAR promote a return to the sport’s roots. “America’s forefathers didn’t throw tea into the harbor so we can sit quietly on rooftops and drink champagne.” Is the opening line, as Scott throws his champagne flute, the first subtle jab at F1.
“We don’t come from royalty, we come from bootleggers and barn builders,” as his Dark Horse is chased down an old back road by a car from the middle of the century before showing off a very Tom Cruise Top Gun-esque fist pump for an American F-18 taking off in the background. (Hell Yeah, More Murica!)
Now, NASCAR promotes its first driver of the ad, 2025 Brickyard 400 winner Bubba Wallace. He and NFL running back Marshawn Lynch sit in some lawn chairs as Scott tears by in his Mustang. The duo hints back to the movie Friday with an iconic “Daaaaaaaaaaaamn.” Then, they hopped into Bubba’s Toyota GT-86 and followed suit.
“This is Sunday at full-throttle, it’s loud, it’s raw, and it’s a damn good time. This is NASCAR, our engines don’t whisper, they roar.” Eastwood proclaims before dropping the next jab. “If you want perfect turns and polite applause, you know where to find it. But if you want dust, dented fenders, and a place to let loose, we’ve got a seat for ya. Coolers full. No dress code, no velvet ropes.” Free Bird playing in the background with Carson Hocevar and Cleetus McFarland doing doughnuts in someone’s front yard in Carson’s now iconic Dale Livery Silverado. “Your people, hard racing, strapped in, screaming your damn lungs out.”
Now we get to see the defending Cup Champion and his wife, Kyle Larson and his wife, Katelyn, leaving grocery shopping, skipping to short shots of action and fans throughout the previous seasons, before she tosses him the keys to a Corvette, and she performs her famous shotgun (Age appropriate with a can of Coka-Cola this time.)
We see a lot of smoky doughnuts as Kyle makes doughnuts around her. Cleetus and Carson are still tearing it up in that yard, and Bubba burns it down with Marshawn. Tons of shots of drivers celebrating wins, Cleetus and Carson blowing Flamethrowers off the back of the No. 3 truck. Then an obnoxiously fake shot of Eastwood jumping off of a closed freeway and onto the banks of Daytona as he says, “It wasn’t made to be tame, it was made to be felt. This is NASCAR, so America, Start your Engines!”
Hell Yeah, My Take
This whole thing just makes me scream, “Hell Yeah!” and we know it makes you feel the same way. This ad was by far the best promotion NASCAR has ever put out. The fact that NASCAR has gladly accepted who they are. Establishing themselves as sort of the “Anti-F1″ is beautiful and brash, and I’m here for it!”
What about you? What did you think?
