• by Tanya Gazdik , May 14, 2020

Goodyear is using the return of NASCAR this Sunday to launch a campaign that includes a sweepstakes. 

The 30-second TV spot from GSD&M features a voiceover from racing legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. and images from the sport’s beginnings. Earnhardt Jr. was featured in another Goodyear spot in February 2018.

Following a 10-week stretch without sports, NASCAR will become the first professional league to return without spectators in the stands.

Goodyear is holding the “Return to Racing Sweepstakes,” giving fans the chance to win one of four Goodyear Eagle racing tires from the winner of the Darlington 400 in South Carolina, which has been renamed “The Real Heroes 400” race in honor of frontline healthcare workers.

Through May 31, fans who use one of the entry methods -- like using the hashtag #ReturnToRacingSweepstakes to share what they’re most excited about for NASCAR’s return to racing -- will be entered to win.

NASCAR’s return is a bright spot in these “unprecedented times,” said Karen Maroli, Goodyear’s vice president of marketing, who says she expects the viewership to be “significant.” 

“For many, race day will bring a sense of normalcy, optimism and joy,” Maroli tells Marketing Daily. “We’re excited to help bring the sport closer to the loyal  and perhaps new – fans as they watch from home.”

The race title is the latest element in the ongoing Real Heroes Project, a collaborative initiative by 14 sports leagues including NASCAR to recognize and pay tribute to medical professionals serving on the front lines in the fight against COVID-19.

Each driver’s name will be replaced above the driver-side window with the name of a healthcare worker currently involved in battling the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, The “Real Heroes Project" logo will be displayed on the side panel of each racecar.

The healthcare workers so honored, selected in part by local Fox affiliates from cities across the country, will serve as grand marshals for the race and appear in an on-air mosaic to simultaneously give the command for drivers to start their engines for the race.

The campaign encourages sports fans to pay tribute to frontline healthcare workers in their lives on social media using #TheRealHeroes.