The NASCAR All-Star race is one of the biggest races of the season. You have to be a race winner, past All-Star winner, or defending series champion to be invited in. The rest of the drivers compete on the track for just two other qualifying spots—go fast or go home. What’s at stake? Up to 2 million dollars for the winning driver. That’s a pretty nice payday for a night’s work …
To add to the excitement of this race, the Miller Lite “Blue Deuce” has a different look. The car was covered in thousands of pictures from race fans across the country, thanks to a promotional program created by Miller Lite, Penske and driver Brad Keselowski, and Fan Mosaics. Beginning with the season-opening Daytona 500, legal-drinking-age fans were encouraged to submit their “Miller Time moments” to not only connect with their favorite car and driver, but to also become part of the team.
This fan-driven paint scheme was unveiled on Thursday afternoon before Brad Keselowski took the track for All-Star practice. Brad was joined for the paint scheme reveal by Adam Dettman from MillerCoors and Brian Doskocil from Fan Mosaics, as well as two local fans who submitted their Miller Time moments on the car.
“I think what’s really important to both me and for Miller Lite is do things that are unique and fun and authentic and kind of creative,” Keselowski told me. “Social media—I have my own views of it, and I want it to be fun. I don’t want it to be just kind of a blah sponsor message. And I think Miller Lite appreciates that as well.
Miller Lite also had some “special guests” riding on the car. The Miller Time Internship has also just kicked off to support our partnership with Fox’s upcoming movie The Internship, starring Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson. You’ll be hearing more about this program soon, but we had a group of Miller Time Interns at the track performing some of their “intern” duties as members of the Miller Lite/Penske #2 Pit Crew for the day (along with having their picture on the car).
As you can see, they were hard at work all day. Maybe my memory is slipping a bit, but I don’t remember my internships being that much fun …
With the paint scheme in place, and the Miller Time Interns done with their pit crew duties, it was time for the All-Star night race to start. Unfortunately, the Miller Lite #2 car suffered an early transmission issue and was not able to finish the race. Brad Keselowski and the Blue Deuce are still well in the Championship hunt, coming into this Sunday’s race in Charlotte tied for sixth place.
Stay tuned folks, as Miller Lite, Penske and Brad Keselowski have a few more surprises for this year, and be sure to follow @Keselowski on Twitter to stay up to speed with the defending NASCAR Champion.
