Sonic Drive-In, NBC Sports Group and sports comedy website The Kicker have teamed up to create a new short-form original digital video series, “The Pits,” which spoofs the life of a NASCAR pit crew. The series debuts July 23 during NBC Sports Digital’s live stream of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race from Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The series is produced mockumentary-style, with each episode incorporating different menu offerings from Sonic, America’s Drive-In, the nation’s largest drive-in restaurant chain. The first episode has a fun parody on a reality romance, and features Sonic Pretzel Dogs.
The Pits” is Sonic’s first sponsored, original digital series. The Kicker (which is led by Saturday Night Live co-head writer Bryan Tucker) and NBC Sports have previously partnered on an original digital project, but this is the first they’ve done incorporating a brand.
The series consists of three episodes, 2-to-3 minute each, which will debut within a different Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series livestream (schedule in the release below). After the episodes debut, they will be available on-demand on NBCSports.com and the NASCAR on NBC Facebook page. Promos for the series run in weekly NASCAR coverage on NBC and NBCSN, but the episodes themselves are exclusive to digital.