DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.  – As the countdown continues to Daytona Day, NASCAR^® announced the return of the Hashtag 500, where fans will race on social media for a chance to win memorabilia from the 60^th running of the DAYTONA 500^® live during the race on February 18.

To compete in the Hashtag 500, fans can watch the DAYTONA 500 on FOX (2:30 p.m. ET) and follow @NASCAR on Twitter to find custom hashtags that give fans a chance to win race items including a driver firesuit, helmet, steering wheel, set of Goodyear tires and more.

NASCAR will share a new hashtag every 20 laps of the race. The first 500 @NASCAR followers that tweet the hashtag and #DAYTONA500 will be entered in a random drawing for each prize.

The final Hashtag 500 race winner will receive a grand prize trip for two to the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship in Miami.

“In less than a week, Daytona International Speedway will host some of the most intense, side-by-side racing we’ve ever seen,” said Jill Gregory, NASCAR senior vice president and chief marketing officer. “With the Hashtag 500, we’re once again extending the competition to our fans on social media and creating yet another fun way to engage with the Great American Race on Daytona Day.”

Beginning today through Saturday, Feb. 17, fans can practice for the Hashtag 500 by competing in daily races on Instagram for a chance to win unique, personal items from Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers.

Daily prizes will include a Jimmie Johnson replica race helmet, a pair of sunglasses from Kyle Busch, a commemorative champagne bottle from Austin Dillon’s wedding and an autographed drum cover from series rookie Darrell Wallace Jr., who will make his DAYTONA 500 debut on Sunday. 

The first 500 fans to comment with the custom hashtag on NASCAR’s Instagram posts will be entered to win each day’s Hashtag 500 driver prize.

The first Hashtag 500 took place during the 2016 DAYTONA 500. The unique promotion generated massive fan engagement and broke numerous NASCAR social media records – including total tweets in a single minute (13,000).

This year, the unique promotion is one of several social and digital media experiences offered by NASCAR to elevate the sport’s 2018 season launch for fans.

The all-new NASCAR Fantasy Live, enhanced to mirror NASCAR’s official scoring system, is now open for league and team registration at NASCAR.com/fantasy. Beginning Sunday, fantasy players will be able to swap drivers in and out of their “garage” live during Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races.

This week, NASCAR Mobile will debut the sport’s first augmented reality experience for app users. Fans can position race-themed items like driver helmets and Goodyear tires within their camera frames and share the images with friends on social media.

On Sunday, Snapchat will cover the DAYTONA 500 with its Our Story feature to give millions of users around the world an inside look at race day from Daytona International Speedway.