On Thursday Brandon Brown announced that he had secured sponsorship for the entire 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season from a new cryptocurrency sponsor.
Cryptocurrency meme coin LGCcoin.io was announced as the sponsor for the No. 68 car featuring a red, white, and blue scheme.
It was not long after the reveal that NASCAR had to step in and say that the scheme of Brown’s car had not been approved yet and a decision would likely occur in the next few weeks.
Brandon Brown team believed it had all the approvals needed for sponsor and the paint scheme so it went ahead with the announcement today. NASCAR says sponsorship approvals still needed. https://t.co/dyJURO5V2J
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) December 31, 2021
“Having the financial support of LGBcoin is incredible, especially at such a pivotal time in our team’s growth as we work to build to the next level of competition,” said Brown in a team release. “From wondering if we would have the financial means to continue to compete, to my first major win (at Talladega no less), to becoming an unintentional meme, this past season was a rollercoaster. The support of sponsors like LGBcoin empowers us to be as competitive as possible and I’m looking forward to competing hard on the track in 2022.”
Brown unintentionally became a meme after winning the Xfinity Series race at Talladega when an NBC reporter Kelli Stavast incorrectly stated that fans were chanting “Let’s go Brandon” as he was being interviewed on the track. The saying has since become a way to show displeasure with President Joe Biden.
A few weeks ago Brown had discussed his struggles attracting sponsors, in part due to the now viral meme.
“This whole Talladega race win was supposed to be a celebration, and then it was supposed to be something that I was able to use to move up, and I really wanted to capitalize on that,” Brown told The New York Times. “But with this meme going viral, it was more of, I had to stay more silent, because everybody wanted it to go on to the political side. I’m about the racing side.”
If NASCAR prevents the cryptocurrency from sponsoring Brown, it would hardly be the first time NASCAR removed a sponsor from a car. Back in 2004 Redneckjunk.com attempted to sponsor the No. 50 Dodge of Arnold Motorsports with driver Derrike Cope. NASCAR did not feel that the sponsor “projected the proper image of the sport” and ordered the decals off the car.
