• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, March 25, 2010

Looking to cement a differentiation for its Ram Truck brand, Chrysler is turning to special online coverage of a NASCAR race this weekend. The pickup brand will sponsor a Nascar.com microsite, which has four camera feeds from the Camping World Truck Series race. 

The arrangement, with Ram video and static exposure, is a joint effort between Turner Sports and News Corp.'s Speed Channel. What's tabbed as "Truck RaceBuddy" will give users a chance to toggle between the four camera angles -- including two from inside the trucks -- and post commentary on a running social-network feed.

Speed has TV rights to all 25 races on the pickup Truck Series and allowed Turner, which has operated Nascar.com since 2001, to provide the "RaceBuddy" offering for the Martinsville, Va., competition. Turner last year had similar sites linked with the NASCAR Sprint Cup races carried on its TNT network.

Turner has also used the four-camera mosaic during the baseball playoffs, with feeds on MLB.com and TBS.com. It is frequently employed during NBA games on the league's Web site, which Turner operates.

The "RaceBuddy" offering provides audio from communication between the drivers and pit crews, while the baseball and hoops feeds are mostly silent. The aim is to encourage viewing with laptop in hand, while deterring people from flipping the TV switch off.

"We're really trying to say how can we complement on-air and make our coverage of an event that much richer," said Walker Jacobs, who heads digital ad sales for Turner sports and entertainment. "We're not trying to create some kind of substitute for the broadcast. It's an enhancement."

For "RaceBuddy" this weekend, a pre-roll for Ram pickups will be shown the first time a user clicks on one of the unique camera angles, which expands the size of that particular feed. Otherwise, the mosaic will show all four streams at once. A user will be exposed to a maximum of four pre-rolls.

Ram logos and other brand presence will surround the video player until the checkered flag drops. In addition to feeds from inside cars, there will be a "Battle Cam" that lasers in on head-to-head scrapping and a camera peering down on the track.

"Providing consumers more choice and the ability to choose camera angles makes the television experience better, makes the online experience better," Jacobs said. "And ultimately, our advertisers benefit because they can really surround the message."

Ram is receiving additional exposure as Turner is promoting the streaming on Yahoo Sports and NASCAR's Facebook page, which it oversees.

Chrysler's sponsorship comes as it launches a major campaign to ensure that Ram has a separate identity from the Dodge moniker it fell under for years.

The effort also includes TV spots and print ads, and sponsorships of an outdoor sports tour and a country music awards show on CBS. There's also a line of work gloves and apparel sold on a dedicated Web site. Women's T-shirts for the would-be rugged brand are made by hipster-oriented American Apparel.

An initial campaign trying to mark a difference between Dodge and Ram came last fall from the new Chrysler, but the current initiative is significantly larger in scope. A well-known tagline linking the two -- "Dodge Trucks are Ram Tough" -- was used for years.

Turner Sports has run Nascar.com since January of 2001. During its six TNT races last year, "RaceBuddy" was sponsored by Sprint, Coke, U.S. Army and Burger King.