US Immigration and Customs Enforcement planned a $100 million, yearlong recruitment drive at and around NASCAR races. According to reports, internal documents show the campaign will use geofenced ads, influencers, podcasts, and event sponsorships to recruit thousands of new deportation officers for the expanded enforcement push.
According to the Washington Post, the strategy is to find recruits who are likely to support enforcement work. ICE wants to appeal to gun rights supporters and conservative-leaning audiences through targeted messaging that frames the work as a “sacred duty” to protect the nation. And it sees NASCAR as a perfect front for its “wartime recruitment” push. The plan would send recruitment ads to phones and web feeds of people at NASCAR race tracks.
NASCAR has long been seen as popular among patriotic and working-class Americans. But the sport’s audience has been changing in recent years. The sport has attracted more diverse fans. Some race broadcasts on streaming platforms (Amazon Prime) have drawn younger viewers than traditional TV coverage. A 2024 YouGov profile also found that 26 per cent of NASCAR fans are between 18 and 29. The sport’s audience now includes more urban and younger viewers than a decade ago.
But the agency has already removed some age limits for applicants and is offering incentives such as signing bonuses up to $50,000 and student loan repayment packages to attract new hires. It revealed that this push has produced more than 220,000 applications and 18,000 tentative job offers in just a few months.
ICE is also working with online influencers whose followers include Gen Z and millennial users interested in tactical and patriotic content. These influencers will be paid to post recruitment content and attend events to create job leads, with at least $8 million of the budget is set aside for these partnerships.
But the reactions to NASCAR’s latest Daytona 500 promo on social media might hint at a different audience reaction.
NASCAR’s Daytona 500 Commercial Failed to Please Some Fans
Late last month, NASCAR released a new ad for the season-opening Daytona 500, and while some fans were excited for the ‘Great American Race’, some were not so happy.
NASCAR posted the promo, which starred Zane Smith with the tagline:
“It’s history. It’s America. It’s the #DAYTONA500.”
The Daytona 500 has always included traditions with military plane flyovers and occasional visits from Republican US presidents, Donald Trump and George Bush. But some fans see less interest in patriotism among younger viewers and attendees.
“This ad highlights that NASCAR is still way behind the times. Patriotism and civic pride is reaching record lows. The excessive use of America might work on older generations, but it will repulse younger demographics,” a fan account wrote on X.
Recent surveys do show that national pride are lower among younger Americans than older ones.
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