Super Bowl vs Daytona 500: Conor Daly gives his verdict on the better choice for FOX's IndyCar promos

Conor Daly has a clear winner in mind between the Super Bowl and the Daytona 500 when judging the advertising impact each sporting event provided for FOX IndyCar's promos this month. The Super Bowl is the most prestigious event in American football while the Daytona 500 is one of the biggest events in stock racing.

FOX has pulled out all the stops in promoting IndyCar's elite racing product in the first year of its partnership with the American racing series. The media giant crafted three viral promos centered on the series' biggest drivers - defending Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden, defending champ Alex Palou, and fan favorite Pato O'Ward, which found appreciation from all around.

FOX then spent over $30 million to air the promos during the Super Bowl 2025 on Feb 9, where the Eagles defeated the Chiefs. They also brought many ad spots during the Daytona 500 on Feb 16, NASCAR's biggest race of the year, which William Byron won for the second straight time. Conor Daly, who will race full-time in IndyCar with Juncos Hollinger Racing this year, compared the reach provided by the two events.

"I actually really enjoyed how many IndyCar commercials there are during the Daytona 500," he said with a laugh on the Pit Pass Indy podcast [20:12 onwards]. "I thought that was very exciting. But the Super Bowl, you know, you got over 100 million people watching that event. That's the most powerful time in television. So it's important."

Super Bowl 59 became the most-watched game ever, with 127.7 million viewers tuning in. Though Conor Daly wasn't one of the drivers publicized in the ads, he goes into the 2025 season as a fan favorite.

Conor Daly on people texting him to commend FOX's IndyCar promos

AUTO: AUG 19 IndyCar - Bommarito Automotive Group 500 - Source: Getty

FOX's IndyCar promos have been the talk of the town since the first one starring Josef Newgarden aired in mid-January. That ad was shown to 32.9 million viewers during the NFL Wild Card Playoffs game between the Eagles and the Packers. The follow-up promos featuring Alex Palou and Pato O'Ward were products of equally ingenious writing and direction.

On the Pit Pass Indy podcast, Conor Daly gave his two cents about the marketing efforts and also revealed how friends who never spoke about IndyCar with him suddenly developed interest in it.

"I think we can all be very happy about that. If you're not, then I don't really understand what you perceive as good, because that's really strong... great, great production level, great excitement level. I had many people text me, who don't ever text me about IndyCar racing, saying 'Hey, this IndyCar stuff looks kinda cool.' And that's what you want. You want people that haven't really given it a chance yet or don't know a ton about it to be like, 'Hey, wow! This is crazy'. I think it did that," the 33-year-old driver said.

Conor Daly's seat with Juncos Hollinger Racing recently came under the scanner after Polkadot, a blockchain company rejected his $3.5 million sponsorship with only three weeks remaining for the first race of the 2025 season. However, this week, he set the record straight about all the speculation and confirmed his full-time participation with the Argentinian-American team.