The 68th Daytona 500, the most prestigious race on the NASCAR calendar, will take place on February 15th, and while it needs no promotion to fill the stands, the organizers and the marketing team are still doing a top-notch job. A hilarious advert made to draw attention to Daytona featured 2012 champ Brad Keselowski.
Advertisement
Keselowski has won the Southern 500, the Brickyard 400 (both in 2018), and then the Coca-Cola 600 two years later. But the part of his trophy case marked Daytona remains empty. It’s the only crown jewel race he hasn’t won.
NASCAR decided to use this and craft a promotional video that fans could not only laugh at but also get excited about.
The video, posted on X, showcased a series of situations in which Keselowski gushed over how iconic the Daytona 500 is while lamenting that he hadn’t won it yet. For instance, in one scene, the RFK Racing Driver sat with a sad face at a Christmas dinner table and arranged the dishes on his plate to spell out “500,” signifying that he couldn’t get the race out of his mind in any circumstance.
NASCAR captioned the video, “Winning the #Daytona500 isn’t everything. It’s the only thing.”
Winning the #DAYTONA500 isn’t everything.
It’s the only thing. pic.twitter.com/0pW6AfYbUj
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) December 13, 2025
Keselowski is a sporting individual who doesn’t mind using his achievements, or lack thereof, to tickle a funny bone. His participation may seem like he’s mocking his own failures, but in reality, it simply shows how confident he is in himself. It should also be noted that the video was a fairly accurate portrayal of his actual emotions about the race.
Winning the Daytona 500 is the only thing for Keselowski
Keselowski isn’t the only Cup Series champion to have never won the Daytona 500. Others like Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch provide him company in this. For them all, and him in particular, the race is more than just another fixture on the calendar.
Keselowski said last year, “All you can really do is put yourself in a position and hope you’re chosen. You can go back and watch the end of races, and people win this race, and you kind of scratch your head and go, ‘How did they win this race?’
“There wasn’t a move that won it for them. It just fell in their lap, and that part gets super frustrating… I feel like there’s a divine power in it.”
Even as a co-owner of RFK Racing, he puts winning the race above winning another title for himself and his team. In February, he will be making his 17th Daytona 500 appearance. One can only hope that NASCAR doesn’t make him be a part of a similar video for the 2027 Daytona 500.
