Jeff Gordon
Jeff Gordon teamed up with Pepsi Max for "Test Drive 2," a prank in which the NASCAR driver posed as a taxi driver and took a reporter on a wild police car chase. Reuters

NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon terrorizes a civilian yet again in the sequel to Pepsi Max’s popular “Test Drive” campaign.

In “Test Drive,” Gordon, the winningest active driver in NASCAR history, goes undercover and shows off his high-speed skills for an unsuspecting bystander. In 2013, the 42-year-old posed as an average person interested in buying a used car. However, when a salesman consented to a test drive, Gordon performed donuts, made illegal lane changes, drove at high speeds and generally did anything he could to scare the poor guy.

The original “Test Drive” prank was so funny, the used car salesman’s reaction so perfect, that several Internet writers -- including Jalopnik’s Travis Okulski -- accused Pepsi Max of hiring an actor for the role (which they had—the first commercial was fake). In response, Gordon and the Pepsi Max decided to dispel the rumors wrong by luring Okulski into taking part in “Test Drive 2.”

Okulski describes the entire scenario on Jalopnik, but here are the basics: Matt Hardigree, the site’s editor, informed Okulski that he would be sent to Charlotte to review the new Corvette Z06, well before the rest of the media would have a chance to test the vehicle. He was instructed not to tell anyone about the opportunity.

The Jalopnik writer flew down to Charlotte, only to find that a production assistant had booked the wrong hotel for him. So Okulski climbed into a cab and chatted with “Travis,” his driver.

Before long, Travis got antsy—he noticed a cop car in his rear-view mirror. “There’s a cop behind me. I get nervous when cops are on me. I just got out after 10 years in jail,” he told Okulski. Sure enough, the police lights flashed and Travis took Okulski on a wild car chase.

The unsuspecting writer spent several minutes screaming for help and begging Travis to pull over and let him out of the taxi—until the car pulled into an abandoned warehouse. Confetti fell from the rafters as Gordon exited the vehicle and revealed that the entire car chase was an elaborate prank.

Pepsi Max’s entire “Test Drive 2” commercial can be viewed below. To his credit, Okulski took the entire thing in stride:

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