Earlier this offseason, Pato O’Ward, IndyCar’s most popular driver, finally found himself on a billboard. And now he can say he’s starred in a Super Bowl commercial about to be seen by more than 100 million people.
Saturday morning, Fox Sports released its 40-second ad on social media starring the 25-year-old Mexican racing phenom, the network’s finale for its preseason promo campaign for IndyCar, as Fox execs attempt to drum up interest ahead of the March 2 season-opener. The ad is expected to run during Fox’s broadcast of Sunday’s Super Bowl — potentially one of three such primetime, nationally-aired ads during a game that featured a record-breaking 123.4 million viewers last year.
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The ultra high-profile spotlight is new territory for the sport — outside the Indy 500, that has drawn nearly 350,000 fans to IMS and averaged a TV audience of nearly 6 million in recent years. Since the lead-up to the 100th running of the 500 in 2016, IndyCar has purchased occasional regional ads targeting Indiana and the Midwest on Super Bowl Sunday.
But Fox’s campaign, which began four weeks ago spotlighting back-to-back defending 500-winner Josef Newgarden and went on to feature two-time defending series champ Alex Palou, is an attempt to take the sport to new heights and turn its drivers into superstars.
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O’Ward’s commercial features witty taglines throughout, calling him the “fastest 25-year-old on four wheels” and “can’t-miss TV for everyone but his own mother” as clips pan to his rookie Indy 500 practice crash. After quickly detailing his seven-win IndyCar resume, the script flips to O’Ward’s tantalizing charm, with the ad’s narrator noting he “looks like a one-man boy band…charms like a British spy…and doesn’t have fans; he’s got groupies.”
“So take a look at the next face of IndyCar, because whether you love him or love him, he’s about to turn this whole sport upside down,” the ad closes with.
You can watch the full ad here:
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pato O’Ward makes Fox Sports debut in IndyCar Super Bowl ad