NASCAR: The 15 Greatest Commercials Of All-Time

Tonight commercials will be the most talked about thing in sports, aside from of course the winner of the Super Bowl. While NASCAR might not get a lot of airtime during Super Bowl 51, that doesn’t mean that they haven’t had some pretty good commercials over the years.

Last year the commercials in the Super Bowl were a bit of a disappointment, hopefully tonight the ad companies will hit the nail right on the head.

Over the years, NASCAR and their sponsors have done some quality work when it comes to commercials featuring the sport or the drivers. Some of the commercials produced have been funny while others have been touching.

Here is a look at the greatest NASCAR TV spots of all-time. Be sure to comment below and let us know if we missed any of your favorite commercials.

Honorable Mention – “Grow Up Fast” and #WhenIWas18

When the list only has a certain number of spots on it there are going to be a couple that simply do not make the cut. In fact, there were even a couple that didn’t make the cut of being an honorable mention, like Tony Stewart doing a split.

The “Grow Up Fast” commercial is one of those touching ones and it might have made the list if there wasn’t a better version of it out there (which you will see in the list). The commercial is nice as it shows us where NASCAR is headed and hits close to home. #WhenIWas18 is just a fun commercial. Any ad that features the most popular driver in the sport with the previous most popular guy in the sport is sure to be a good one. Throw in the sports next big thing and a mullet and you’re good to go!

NOTE: The ‘Grow Up Fast’ video has been removed from YouTube and other sites for some reason.

No. 15 – Jeff Gordon 2015 AARP Commercial

Sure, it was a pretty sad moment when everyone found out that Jeff Gordon would be retiring after the conclusion of 2015 season, but I think that The AARP commercial featuring Jeff Gordon took away some of that pain. The commercial was extremely funny, taking subtle shots at Gordon’s age, and featured a nice little joke about NASCAR in general at the end. If nothing else, it was good for a few laughs and maybe a rewind or two.

Gordon has never taken himself too seriously in NASCAR and this commercial is just another example of that. Also, this was a great play on some of the funny commercials that ESPN has put together over the years from their headquarters.

No. 14 – NAPA Know How: Martin Truex Jr.

If there was any NASCAR commercial that played on repeat in your head constantly, this would be the one. Not only did it have a nice rock ‘n roll beat to it, but it also featured some pretty unique and funny moments with Martin Truex Jr. to boot. The NAPA Know How tagline is what makes it impossible to get out of your head, but the absurdness of it all is enough to make you watch it a few more times on YouTube.

NAPA did come out with a few iterations of the original, including a spectacular one with Michael Waltrip dressing up like Elvis and doing a little booty shake for the camera, but sadly nothing could ever beat the first one. It was almost a shock to fans that NAPA took the time to actually make the commercials funny and that’s what stuck with fans the most.

NAPA made some of the best commercials for NASCAR.

No. 13 – Gatorade: Is It In You?

Before Jimmie Johnson was a seven-time NASCAR champion he was just an ordinary driver making commercials with Mark Martin for Gatorade. Yes, at this point Johnson was already a champion in NASCAR but he hadn’t yet reached the heights that he is known for today.

The commercial itself is filled with just the right amount of humor and NASCAR action to make it all work. There is just something about Mark Martin, no matter what the guy does he comes across are likable and this commercial is no different.

This ad was also right on par with some of the other work that Gatorade was doing in other sports during this time, so props all around.

No. 12 – Stanley Tools

Kasey Kahne is no stranger to NASCAR commercials. In fact, at one point he was one of the most marketable drivers in NASCAR, which some might find hard to believe. Kahne will appear again later in this ranking but his first stop is here in a pair of Stanley Tool ads with Elliott Sadler.

The ads go together as one shows Sadler poking fun at Kahne using Stanley products while the other has Kahne returning the favor to Sadler. While both commercials are simple, you know guys took the stud finder after seeing this commercial and pulled the same gag at home.

When commercials enter your everyday-life, you know that they are good.

Next: Burger King

No. 11 – Burger King: Tony Stewart

It’s no secret that Tony Stewart has a very colorful personality. Such a colorful personality in fact that if you put him in your commercial, its almost guaranteed to be a hit. This commercial was no exception, with Stewart working at local Burger King and making a fool out of himself in the process.

He constantly got confused about customers’ orders, asked inappropriate questions, got hit on by almost every female who walked into the establishment and even signed autographs during a lunch rush. Another great viewing experience for any Tony Stewart fan and other fans of the sport as well. Especially since we get to see Stewart fail horribly at something, which has never really happened in his NASCAR career.

Man life will suck without Stewart in NASCAR this season.

No. 10 – “Spreading The Word”

When NASCAR announced the changes to the format of the Chase in 2014 there was a great deal of confusion among some fans. Despite releasing the changes followed by a step-by-step breakdown NASCAR decided that simply wasn’t enough. As a result they put together the above commercial. The commercial is a fun look at the new format while explaining to fans how all of it works.

The commercial also features some of the sports biggest drivers and some comedic relief by Carl Edwards, which is always welcomed. Edwards was low-key one of the most marketable drivers in NASCAR during his career. His absence from the series in 2017 is one that should be felt by many as personality is key in racing today (and winning too obviously).

No. 9 – Goody’s: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Talking cars are pretty cool, right?

How about your favorite car talking with the voice of your favorite driver, even cooler? In this ad Earnhardt Jr. talks to fans and citizens of this small town via his car. The No. 88 machine is wired and Earnhardt Jr. is able to interact with people as they come near the car. The commercial offers some funny exchanges and then some nice moments when Earnhardt finally reveals himself at the end.

The ad also shows off the new sponsor and paint scheme for the No. 88 machine for the Xfinity Series last season. All in all it was a solid spot, the behind the scenes videos are pretty entertaining to watch as well.

No. 8 – M&M’s: Kyle Busch

Have you ever wanted to see Kyle Busch tied up and duct placed over his mouth?

Then this commercial is for you! Not only did involve a plot where the red and yellow M&M hijacked Busch’s car during an Atlanta race, it also features a pretty good tag line that is sure to have you at least smiling in the end.

Either smiling at that or the fact that two fictitious candy mascots have taken over Kyle Busch’s No. 18 Camry and are now driving it sideways through the infield. That’s always a reason to smile too, assuming you’re not a Busch fan.

No. 7 – Allstate: Kasey Kahne

Back in the day Kasey Kahne was the man in NASCAR. Not only was he winning races but he was in the championship picture and he was one of NASCAR’s most marketable drivers. Today, Kahne is an afterthought with HMS as he has not won or made the playoffs since the 2014 season.

But let’s focus on the positive shall we?

These Kahne commercials were awesome. The house moms coming across Kahne in everyday life and having their fandom somehow cause chaos was a fantastic angle to take. The commercials expressed the appeal of Kahne as well as his popularity, while fitting the branding of the company. This right here is some great ad work when it comes to NASCAR and one of their drivers.

No. 6 – Nextel: Robot Matt Kensth

Back in the day Matt Kenseth won races, always finished inside of the top-10 and didn’t have much of a personality to go along with all of his success. Today Kenseth has a lot of personality, just look at his on-track issues with Joey Logano from a couple of seasons ago. Not only did Kenseth show personality on the track, he had some great one-liners to boot. Also, we cannot forget the pit road brawl with Brad Keselowski.

Man, Kenseth just gets better with age.

Looking back at the ad though, it was another example of a NASCAR driver not taking themselves too seriously. Kenseth knew what his perception was with the fans and he made fun of himself in this funny ad.

No. 5 – Toyota: NASCAR Fan Control

Toyota was new to NASCAR and a lot of NASCAR fans were not happy about. Having a foreign manufacturer in NASCAR was something that was never supposed to happen and many said it would without question fail. Well, those fans are wrong and currently Toyota is the manufacturer to beat heading into the 2017 season.

However, back before their first season, nobody knew what was to come.

As a result they came up with this clever ad to kind of endear NASCAR fans to the change. The ad was pretty funny and it showed off Tony Stewart when he had those flowing locks of hair. You will be hard-pressed not to chuckle at some point during this ad.

No. 4 – Jeff Gordon: One Last Ride and Pepsi Goodbye

When Jeff Gordon announced his retirement you knew there was going to be some type of commercial made to pay tribute to him. What fans actually got was a few commercials. AARP made a series of funny commercials while the pair of commercials at No. 4 were also made to take a more serious looks at everything he accomplished in NASCAR.

Gordon will go down in NASCAR history as one of the five greatest drivers to ever get on the track. The commercials at this spot in the countdown pay respect to him in a more than proper way. If you haven’t seen these two ads, take a minute to watch them both, especially if you’re a fan of Gordon or his career.

Next: Start Your Engines

No. 3 – “America Start Your Engines”

The No. 3 spot on this list has to go to the most recent NASCAR commercial which you might have seen during last year’s Super Bowl.

This ad literally has it all and touches on every aspect of the sport with great comedy. Not only does the ad do a terrific job of promoting NASCAR’s upcoming season on NBC but it also creates non-stop laughs. I’m not sure if NASCAR will have an ad in the Super Bowl this year, if they do it will be hard to top this one that’s for sure.

The commercial even has attractive women singing about NASCAR, go figure.

No. 2 – Pepsi Max: Jeff Gordon

I guess that technically this is more of a commercial for Pepsi Max than it is NASCAR but it does feature four-time champion Jeff Gordon, who does happen to be driving a car.

The premise for the commercial is simple; Gordon takes an unsuspecting guy on the rid of his life. At the end Gordon reveals it was a prank and that is that. The twist comes when after the first commercial aired there was a fan that was quite vocal in his belief that the commercial was fake. He contested that the person being pranked was an actor and that Gordon and Pepsi couldn’t have actually pulled that off.

Next: Heroes

No. 1 – “Heroes”

This commercial takes all of the elements that were in the “Grow Up Fast” and just makes it that much better. Sure, the spot isn’t about current drivers but that’s okay because it goes deeper than that. When you were a kid there is a good chance that you wanted to be a racecar driver at some point. If you have children now there is a good chance that they have pretended to be drivers as well.

This commercial captures that certain child’s dreams and/or reflects on our own dreams that used to be.

The best commercials don’t always have to be the funniest and that proves true in this case. This commercial is one of the best spots that NASCAR has ever put together because it touches every NASCAR fan on one level or another.