According to data gathered by Nielsen IAG, traditional ads airing in last year’s Daytona were 26% more likely to be recalled by race viewers than those who saw the ad run elsewhere. Spots by NASCAR advertisers Home Depot, McDonald’s and State Farm Insurance particularly enjoyed brand recall levels that were at least twice that of airings outside the race.

 Not only were Daytona watchers more likely to remember the ads, but they also enjoyed them more. Commercials aired during last year’s race were 25% more likeable than when they ran on other programming. Ads by Home Depot and McDonald’s once again achieved likeability levels more than twice that of airings outside the race. And ads by Sprint, the namesake of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup, were also twice as likely to be favored by Daytona 500 viewers as all others who saw the same spots outside the race.

“It’s no secret that NASCAR offers one of the most passionate fan bases of any sport, and that passion extends to many of their sponsors and partners,” said Stephen Master, VP for Nielsen Sports. “Successful marketers know that when it comes to effective advertising, events like the Daytona 500 are the checkered flag, and not just a pit stop.”

According to data from Nielsen’s People Meter sample fused with the respondents of MRI’s Survey of the American Consumer, NASCAR race viewers in Q1′09 were more likely than the average consumer to drive American:

• Drivers of Chevrolet, sponsor of Tony Stewart and Hendrick Motorsports, had 70% higher ratings compared to the composite.
• Drivers of Ford, who sponsors one of NASCAR’s brightest stars in Carl Edwards, had 64% higher ratings.
• Drivers of Dodge, which is now partially owned by a Fiat, is still considered by many an American car, and had 59% higher ratings.

It should be no surprise that NASCAR’s racing teams work closely with the automakers not just under the hood, but also on ways to increase sponsorship visibility - including car signage, uniform apparel, and training the drivers to weave in audio mentions to their interviews – all in hopes of moving the needle when their fans head out to their local car dealership.

As the Big Three American automakers attempt to change public perception and get their cars back on the right track, NASCAR may be the best sponsorship vehicle.

Greenville, SC and Greensboro, NC maintained their spots as the top DMAs for this year’s race, scoring 21.2 and 19.9 ratings, respectively. Dayton, OH surged to the #3 spot with an 18.0 rating.

 2009 DAYTONA 500: TOP-10 LOCAL DMA RATINGS

At its peak (5:48pm ET), the race scored a 10.5 HH rating, with 18.1 million viewers tuning in. According to Repucom International, which provides exclusive integration of Nielsen data in measuring brand exposure in sports telecasts, those 18.1 million viewers were exposed to the following brands within the next 30 seconds: AAA, Red Bull, Red Bull Cola, Toyota, Sprint, Sunoco, 3M, Fedex, Goodyear, Taco Bell, EA Sports, Dodge, and Chevrolet.

As a sport tied so directly to sponsorships and the struggling auto industry, NASCAR offered a steady dose of positive exposure for American car companies. According to Repucom, Chevrolet and Ford had the most brand exposures during FOX’s telecast, combining for 419 exposures and a total of almost 30 minutes. AT&T had the third-most exposure time at almost 14 minutes. More extraordinary, those 14 minutes were an accumulation of just 36 exposures – meaning AT&T enjoyed an impressive average of 23 seconds per exposure.

2009 DAYTONA 500: TOP-10 BRAND EXPOSURES

In an analysis of the last ten Daytona 500s, Greenville, SC and Greensboro, NC emerged with the highest average household ratings among metered markets of 23.8 and 22.4, respectively. Rounding out the top five over that same time period are Orlando (20.0), Charlotte (19.6), and Knoxville (19.4).

But it’s not just Southern cities that are captivated by NASCAR’s season opener. Though it’s ranked the lowest among the 56 metered markets in terms of household rating, New York City ranks first in terms of total household impressions with an average of 326,000 homes tuning in to the last ten races. Philadelphia (266,000 homes) and Chicago (233,000) are two other cities above the Mason-Dixon Line in the top-10 of markets showing strong average household interest in the Great American Race.

Ryan Newman won last year’s Daytona before an average of 17.8 million viewers. At its peak, the 2008 race had a 13.0 HH rating with 22.8 million sets of eyes watching. HD-capable homes were 22% more likely to watch last year’s Daytona than the total U.S. average.

Perhaps most excited for the new season are NASCAR advertisers. Whether it’s naming rights to various races, to patches on crew members’ uniforms, to logos emblazoned on the cars themselves, it’s no secret that NASCAR is an attractive vehicle for marketing products. According to Nielsen, NASCAR fans spend about 10% more on consumer-packaged goods than non-fans. Additionally, avid NASCAR fans are 4 times more likely than casual NASCAR fans to purchase a product endorsed by a NASCAR driver.