• by Nina Lentini  @Nina_Lentini, February 11, 2009

Aflac is kicking off its first year as primary sponsor of Carl Edwards and the No. 99 Ford Fusion in a big way with the launch of its latest television spots, "Monster Tires" and "Joyride." The 15-second commercials, slated to air during the national broadcast of Sunday's Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, reveal the competitive but friendly relationship growing between Edwards and Aflac's iconic duck.

The first spot, "Monster Tires," opens with the duck furiously pumping up the tires on the No. 99 car to monstrous proportions. A confused Edwards questions the duck's actions. He soon understands as the spot ends with Edwards and the duck cruising through traffic-filled streets raised above a crowd of screaming fans, bouncing on the No. 99 car's oversized tires.

The "Joyride" spot opens with Edwards running into the Aflac Racing garage, only to find his car missing. He realizes that it has been stolen by his fowl friend after seeing flaming tire marks leading outside the garage and a feather that was left behind. It is then revealed that the duck has taken the car on a joyride on a windy mountain road, with a female companion in the passenger seat. The car reaches top speed as the pair ride away into the sunset, laughing.

With the Daytona 500, Aflac begins its three-year agreement as primary sponsor of Edwards and the No. 99 Ford Fusion. Since 2007, Aflac has been NASCAR's Official Supplemental Insurance Partner. These spots follow the previous Aflac commercial "Feathers," which incorporated the company's 2007 NASCAR sponsorship into its popular Aflac duck campaign. The spot elaborates on the budding relationship between the Aflac duck and Edwards.

Edwards has become known as one of NASCAR's strongest competitors, moving his way up from the Craftsman Truck Series to NASCAR's elite Sprint Cup series and winning a Busch Series Championship. During his career, Edwards has accumulated two NASCAR-sanctioned track championships, three Rookie of the Year honors, and 79 feature wins while racing on both dirt and pavement tracks.

"Monster Tires" and "Joyride" are the second and third Aflac commercials featuring Carl Edwards and the Aflac Duck. Beginning on Sunday, the spots will run on major networks and cable channels such as ABC, CBS, NBC, A&E, CNBC and Discovery. The spots, Aflac Racing desktop wallpaper and a cell phone ring tone are available for download on the new and improved aflacracing.com.