NASCAR is gearing up for the biggest race of the year, which also happens to be the first race of the year. The legendary Daytona 500 has been thrilling fans since 1959, and one the race’s most prominent participants loves Diet Mountain Dew so much that he’s willing to give up his car for it.

Well, he’s that overzealous in a new viral ad that’s being released today.

The ad won’t hit the airwaves until this weekend, close to the start of the big race. But it’s available online right now. A man squeals through his neighborhood in Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s #88 Diet Mountain Dew car. When he gets home, he has one hell of a story for his son:

Mountain Dew has been a sponsor of Dale Jr.’s #88 car since he joined Hendrick Motorsports in 2008. This year, he’ll be looking for his second Daytona 500 win.

“Diet Mountain Dew is off to a strong start in 2012, with solid growth and the news that we’ve passed the billion dollar sales milestone,” said Emily Silver, senior marketing manager, Diet Mountain Dew. “And, with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. on-board to help us spread the word about the great taste of Diet Mountain Dew, we only expect things to accelerate from here.”

Diet Mountain Dew is also announcing an online initiative called the Dew Crew. Fans can sign up at the Dew Crew site as well as participate on Facebook for a chance to win prizes and even get a chance to help make decisions for Earnhardt’s pit crew.

Mountain Dew, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and NASCAR are all getting some viral publicity out of this. But none of it matches one truck series driver who is racing this weekend with 2,600+ handles from his Twitter followers stuck to his truck.