Coca-Cola receives NASCAR Marketing Achievement Award - MotorSportsTalk

On Thursday, the Coca-Cola Company was awarded the 2013 NASCAR Marketing Achievement Award at the NASCAR NMPA Myers Brothers Awards Luncheon held in the Encore Ballroom at Wynn Las Vegas. This marked the third time Coca-Cola has achieved this award, the first time any company has won that.

Since 1998, although Coca-Cola has not opted to go the primary sponsorship route for any particular one driver or team, it has made an indelible impact on NASCAR’s marketing and promotion through race sponsorship, its “Coca-Cola Family of Drivers,” and other opportunities.

This year, Coca-Cola introduced a series of brand spots titled, “Coca-Cola Racing Family Road Trip,” featuring NASCAR stars Tony Stewart, Danica Patrick, Greg Biffle, Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano. The four-part series premiered during the Daytona 500 and its creative mirrored storylines that were playing out on the track throughout the season.

“The Coca-Cola partnership with NASCAR is rich in history and passionately multifaceted. We’re honored and humbled to receive this prestigious award from such a valuable partner,” said Sharon Byers, senior vice president, sports and entertainment marketing, Coca-Cola North America Group.

Some of the integrated marketing campaigns Coca-Cola participated in included a Coca-Cola Racing Family Track Walk and iHeart Radio Trace Adkins Concert in Charlotte at the Coca-Cola 600, “Coke Zero Enjoy Everything Island” on Lake Lloyd during the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona, My Coke Rewards promotions, a sweepstakes program in 180 military commissaries, retail and local market activations and an extensive at-track recycling program.

Follow @TonyDiZinno

An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”