Daytona Day ad not exactly resonating with NASCAR fans

Is it just me, or should Daytona Day be black-flagged and put into mothballs with the Car of Tomorrow?

Daytona Day is a Fox Sports ad campaign that suggests people should get together and watch the Daytona 500 on TV in the manner that people get together and watch the Super Bowl.

After seeing an ad for the Great American Race that showed race cars instead of contrived images of people having a good time at made-up Daytona Day parties, this is what Dale Earnhardt Jr. wrote on Twitter: “At least it wasn’t that Daytona Day (expletive).”

So it would appear it’s not just me.

Social media criticism has been fast and furious.

One of the few places in Las Vegas that has a Daytona 500 party is the South Point. It usually calls it a Daytona 500 viewing party. Which seems to work just fine for those who attend.

Fox Sports put out a release stating there would be at least 250 Daytona Day parties that it knew of, that nine racetracks were holding shindigs, that celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey was returning with new menu items and recipe cards.

For some reason I don’t think recipe cards authorized by a celebrity chef are going to resonate with NASCAR fans. Even casual ones.

“Daytona Day is an open invitation to join the party,” said Nancy MacDonald, Fox Sports vice president of brand marketing. “It’s about gathering with friends and family, sharing in the anticipation, the history and the unique pageantry that goes along with the Daytona 500, a must-see event on the sports calendar.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. calls (expletive).

Here’s all they had to do: Collect a few great moments from past Daytona 500s. The fight between the Allison brothers and Cale Yarborough; Dale Earnhardt Sr. finally winning; Juan Pablo Montoya slamming into the back of the jet dryer setting the track ablaze. Arrange them into a montage. Superimpose a Daytona 500 graphic that shows the date and what time it comes on.

Casual fans would probably tune in, even without recipe cards authorized by a celebrity chef.

Green, white, checkered

— Leah Pritchett set an unofficial record by running the fastest speed in a Top Fuel dragster — 333.74 mph — during testing at Wildhorse Pass Motorsports Park near Phoenix last weekend. Pritchett and the rest of the NHRA hot rodders will initiate four-wide racing at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway from April 6 to 8.

— Robbie “Bootie” Barker will serve as crew chief on the No. 18 ARCA Racing Series Toyota that 18-year-old Las Vegan Riley Herbst will drive at Daytona Speedway this weekend. Barker, who has been a crew chief at the Xfinity and Cup Series levels, is expected to help Herbst compete for the ARCA championship in his second season with Joe Gibbs Racing after the youngster was named Rookie of the Year in 2017.

— Brendan Gaughan tuned up for his ride in next weekend’s Daytona 500 by writing Super Bowl betting slips at the Gaughan family hangout known as the South Point. The semiretired racer, who will drive the No. 62 Beard Oil Motorsports/South Point Chevrolet in the Great American Race, made it 44 straight Super Bowl Sundays that a member of his family has worked the window for the big game.

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.