Dale Earnhardt Jr. paint scheme
RacingBy Arthur Weinstein on

Hendrick Motorsports posted a mysterious X/Twitter post Tuesday that left everyone speculating. And even many of the fans who were ultimately disappointed by the payoff came away impressed by the bold social media strategy.

Tuesday afternoon, Hendrick’s social media team posted a cryptic tweet: “Something’s coming. Tomorrow. 9 a.m. ET. Dale Jr. Download.” The tweet included a video showing a driver’s legs, the driver wearing what looked suspiciously like retired NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s racing suit, shoes and gloves.

Many fans quickly connected the dots: “Something’s coming.” Dale Jr. A driver that looks like Dale Earnhardt Jr. And wait — the NASCAR All-Star Race is coming up May 19 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, the once-abandoned track that Earnhardt Jr. worked diligently to save from the wrecking ball.

The puzzle pieces fit together seamlessly for many fans: Earnhardt Jr. was going to drive a Hendrick car in the All-Star race! Fans were sure of it, because the X tweet was so convincing. One NASCAR reporter even broke down the video like an investigator studying the Zapruder film, comparing that “mystery” driver’s leg to Earnhardt Jr.’s leg.

In the end, the reality fell well short of the hype. On Wednesday, Hendrick announced (as did Earnhardt on that Dale Jr. Download podcast) that Chase Elliott will drive a special throwback paint scheme honoring Earnhardt Jr. for the May 12 race at Darlington. It’s the paint scheme Junior had when he won the 2014 Daytona 500.

Some fans were upset, even livid, that the tweet had been oversold. But the majority seemed to appreciate the effort that went into promoting the announcement, helped in part by the reveal video showing Earnhardt Jr.’s excitement at seeing the car.

Even NASCAR insider Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports had wondered about the announcement.

“When I saw the tease, I did wonder if there was any way Dale Jr. could fill in for Kyle Larson at the all-star race and I think the JRM/Hendrick people I texted just laughed. But strange things do happen,” he tweeted Wednesday.

Elliott, of course, liked the reveal.

Fans generally reacted positively to the announcement, even if the teaser tweet hinted at a much different storyline. Part of the positive reaction is due to the fact that Earnhardt Jr. and Elliott have between them won every single NASCAR Cup Series Most Popular Driver Award dating to 2003 (Junior won the honor 15 times, and Elliott has won every year since 2018). So Hendrick had a huge built-in audience ready to like the announcement no matter what. But as noted, there were also some disappointed fans who were mad about the announcement being oversold.

There’s a lesson here for social media marketing teams. While it’s easy to get burned over-selling a promotion, it can pay to take chances. As the old cliché goes, any publicity is good publicity, so that Hendrick Motorsports tweet won the race in that respect.

[Hendrick Motorsports on Twitter/X]

About Arthur Weinstein

Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.

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