The Super Bowl-NASCAR connection
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| NASCAR Pack Racing |
Last February 5th, the National Football League concluded its season with one of the all time great spectacles in sports: Super Bowl 46. On February 26th NASCAR will officially begin its new season with another great spectacle in sports: the Daytona 500, aka "The Great American Race."
That contrast has always been in effect for decades. However, this year there was a rather interesting connection between the Super Bowl and NASCAR. Surprisingly, it involved the game plan of the defensive team from the Super Bowl champions; the New York Giants.
Explaining in greater detail was New York defensive end Justin Tuck, who scored two very important sacks against New England quarterback Tom Brady in the game. During an interview with "ESPN", Tuck pointed out that the Giant's defensive game plan for the Super Bowl was named "NASCAR."
"We came up with NASCAR; we call it our speed package," Tuck said adding "why do we call it that? All of us compete about who's the fastest and who gets to the quarterback the fastest. So NASCAR is just something that felt right." That NASCAR defense certainly looked right during Super Bowl 46.
By the way, a tip of the racing hat goes out to NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications who, in a press release issued the morning after the game, dubbed Super Bowl 46 "the Daytona 500 of football."
That statement is just further evidence that "The Beach Boys" really do have a sense of humor. A note of clarity here: Beach Boys refers to NASCAR executives in Daytona Beach-Florida and not the famous rock n roll band from southern California.
Some of NASCAR's best were in attendance, at the Lucas Oil Stadium, to watch Super Bowl 46. That list included Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne along with Austin and Ty Dillon. By the way, the Dillon brothers appearance at the game was reported to be a Christmas gift from "Pop-Pop." We know him better as famed NASCAR team owner Richard Childress, aka the Dillon's grandfather.
The NASCAR phenomenon known as "Danica Mania" was also present during the Super Bowl's marketing campaigns. Patrick was featured in two Super Bowls ads on behalf of her long time sponsor Go Daddy.Com. She now has, what has been termed, an unofficial record of appearing in ten Super Bowl ad campaigns; more than any other celebrity.
On the topic of Super Bowl marketing, NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Brian Vickers found a way to use his social network accounts to promote a potent beverage in the days preceding the game. Using his "Twitter" and "Facebook" accounts, Vickers informed us that we could order a four bottle sample pack of TY KU Premium Asian Sake for $65 which could be delivered to your front door just in time for the Super Bowl.
If you watched Super Bowl 46 then you're already aware that, during the opening minutes of the game, New England quarterback Tom Brady was penalized for intentional grounding. The result was a two point safety being awarded to the Giants.
Does NASCAR have an intentional grounding rule? Why sure they do. However, NASCAR officials chose to give their version of this rule a more clever, and less intrusive, name. They call their intentional grounding rule "Have At It Boys."
The Super Bowl's traditional lavish half time concert featured Madonna who many felt did a good job despite having to perform those dance routines with a reported leg injury. Unfortunately, pop singer M.I.A., one of Madonna's guests, decided to display her middle finger to literally hundreds of millions of viewers watching the game. I suppose it's possible that the young singer was momentarily confused over the difference between her index and middle fingers, but I doubt it.
Has NASCAR ever dealt with improper digits on national television? Oh yeah, and you all know where I'm going with this. To avoid future confusion, all singer M.I.A. has to do is visit a NASCAR garage and check in with either one of the Busch brothers. They will be able to explain to her which finger is the good and which finger is bad.
All in all the “Daytona of Football", Super Bowl 46, was a very exciting event. But I've got a feeling it will pale in comparison to NASCAR's Super Bowl once the green flag falls on the Daytona 500.