The best commercial in this year’s Super Bowl won’t even take place during the game, but don’t worry, it will most certainly have cars. NBC Sports has released its advertisement ushering in the 2015 NASCAR->ke3635 season, and it does so with the unwavering Americanism of Nick Offerman – meat connoisseur, wood craftsman extraordinaire and Ron Swanson.
In “America, It’s Time For A Gut Check,” Offerman brings his usual comedy and machismo with one-liners like “Sure everybody at NASCAR gets a trophy/As long as they win the f***ing race” and “Where men and women compete together/Just like they did back in the 18-nevers.” Click past the jump to read more about the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. says that a 60-second version of the commercial will air immediately after the game, but you can see the full-length version right now. Trust me, it will be the best two minutes you’ll spend today, and you don’t have to be a NASCAR fan to get a kick out of it.
The true point of the ad, of course, is as a promotion for NBC Sports, which picks up coverage of the 2015 season starting on July 5.
Click past the jump to read more about the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup season.
The 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup season kicks off on a couple weeks at the Daytona International Speedway, and here are a few story lines to watch as well as the entire 2015 schedule. Enjoy.
2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup: What to watch
Jeff Gordon
Jeff Gordon recently announced that this season would be his last as a full-time driver behind the wheel of the No. 24 Chevrolet. Does this mean he is retiring from the sport completely? Most likely not, but only time will tell. The big question is if Gordon can finally win at Kentucky to be able to boast that he has won at all of the NASCAR tracks.
Tony Stewart
The last couple of years has been a rough stretch for Tony Stewart with horrible accidents taking place in a sprint car in 2013 and 2014, so it will be interesting to see if he is able to put together his first full season in a Sprint Cup car since 2012.
Carl Edwards
After spending his entire career racing for Jack Roush and Ford, the 2015 season will see Carl Edwards take his signature race-winning backflips to the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Despite his racing success, Edwards has never won a championship, but he will join proven drivers such as Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin.
Newbies
Kyle Larson won the 2014 NASCAR Rookie of the Year and Austin Dillon brought back the famed No. 3 to the Sprint Cup series, but neither managed to win a race. Can one of these two newcomers (or perhaps another one of NASCAR’s younger racers) make a name for themselves in 2015?
Testing Ban
A new rule from NASCAR will ban teams from testing at racetracks, although there will be official testing sessions throughout the season. This move is expected to even the gap between the deep-pocketed, multi-car teams and smaller, single-car privateer teams.
2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule
Sun, Feb 22 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway
Sun, Mar 1 Atlanta Motor Speedway
Sun, Mar 8 Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Sun, Mar 15 Phoenix International Raceway
Sun, Mar 22 Auto Club Speedway
Sun, Mar 29 Martinsville Speedway
Sat, Apr 11 Texas Motor Speedway
Sun, Apr 19 Bristol Motor Speedway
Sat, Apr 25 Richmond International Raceway
Sun, May 3 Talladega Superspeedway
Sat, May 9 Kansas Speedway
Sat, May 16 All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway
Sun, May 24 Charlotte Motor Speedway
Sun, May 31 Dover International Speedway
Sun, Jun 7 Pocono Raceway
Sun, Jun 14 Michigan International Speedway
Sun, Jun 28 Sonoma
Sun, Jul 5 Daytona International Speedway
Sat, Jul 11 Kentucky Speedway
Sun, Jul 19 New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Sun, Jul 26 Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Sun, Aug 2 Pocono Raceway
Sun, Aug 9 Watkins Glen International
Sun, Aug 16 Michigan International Speedway
Sat, Aug 22 Bristol Motor Speedway
Sun, Sep 6 Darlington Raceway
Sat, Sep 12 Richmond International Raceway
Sun, Sep 20 Chicagoland Speedway
Sun, Sep 27 New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Sun, Oct 4 Dover International Speedway
Sat, Oct 10 Charlotte Motor Speedway
Sun, Oct 18 Kansas Speedway
Sun, Oct 25 Talladega Superspeedway
Sun, Nov 1 Martinsville Speedway
Sun, Nov 8 Texas Motor Speedway
Sun, Nov 15 Phoenix International Raceway
Sun, Nov 22 Homestead-Miami Speedway