NASCAR Makes Big Changes As It Begins 2022 Season That Include More Politics

While claiming to ban political advertising, the sport announced a partnership that many conservatives might find distinctly political in nature.
'Trust the Experts!' But What If They’re Wrong? | Ep 564

'Trust the Experts!' But What If They’re Wrong? | Ep 564

NASCAR reportedly shuts down 'Let's Go Brandon' sponsorship deal after granting initial OK



NASCAR on Tuesday formally rejected a sponsorship deal based on the anti-Biden "Let's go, Brandon" chant.

What are the details?

Last week, Brandonbilt Motorsports and Xfinity Series driver Brandon Brown — whose post-victory interview in October first sparked the slogan — announced their partnership with cryptocurrency meme coin LGBcoin.io for the 2022 season.

In a press release, the team showcased Brown's new paint scheme, which featured "an eye-catching red, white, and blue livery with the logo and wordmark of LGBcoin aboard his No. 68 Chevrolet Camaro."

But according to a NASCAR spokesperson speaking with Motorsport.com, Brown's team "jumped the gun" in publicizing the deal, which was initially OK'd by a NASCAR employee but failed to gain full clearance upon further review.

The Washington Post reported that the NASCAR official who initially signed off on the deal was not authorized to do so. RACER reported that the deal "was not done through the appropriate portal and was incorrectly approved without proper understanding of the LGBcoin."

NASCAR has yet to issue a formal statement on the matter.

I\u2019m excited to welcome @LGBcoin_io aboard my No. 68 Chevrolet Camaro as our 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series full season primary partner!\n\nPress release: \n\nhttps://www.bmsraceteam.com/teamupdates\u00a0pic.twitter.com/s8PkfCtnVD
— Brandon Brown (@Brandon Brown) 1640877711

In conversation with Fox Business, a spokesperson for Brown, Maxwell Marcucci, claimed that NASCAR did officially approve the deal only to walk it back later. He added that the organization's subsequent statements have run "counter to facts of the situation."

"After the announcement went live on Thursday morning, NASCAR acknowledged to us late that afternoon that we had received approval but that they now needed to discuss this at a higher level," Marcucci reportedly said.

What's the background?

Brown was the central figure in the launch of the politically tumultuous slogan, which has become a coded way of saying, "F*** Joe Biden."

During an interview with NBC after Brown's first career Xfinity Series victory last October, fans in the grandstands at the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama began shouting the anti-Biden chant. Then, either out of confusion or in a poor attempt to control the narrative, the NBC sports reporter incorrectly claimed that the crowd was chanting "Let's go, Brandon" to celebrate Brown's victory.

The moment immediately went viral, and "Let's go, Brandon" became a tongue-in-cheek rallying cry for critics of President Biden, to the left's chagrin.

Brown, for his part, has claimed that he has "zero desire to be involved in politics" and is actually leery of being associated with the controversial chant for fear of being "canceled" and losing out on sponsorship deals.

In the press release announcing the sponsorship deal, Brandonbilt Motorsports said LGBcoin is a "patriotic coin" that "aims to inspire positivity and unity, grounded in a strong belief of the American dream."

The coin is reportedly similar to other meme coins like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu and, despite having no intrinsic value, has achieved a market capitalization of more than $300 million in under six months.

“We are proud to support Brandon this season, to help him continue his American dream,” James Koutoulas, the founder of Typhoon Capital Management, added. "If we do our job right, when you think of us, and you hear, ‘Let’s Go Brandon,’ you’ll think and feel, ‘Let’s Go America.'"

Brandonbilt Motorsports reportedly plans to fight NASCAR's rejection of the sponsorship deal, but the team is likely to face an uphill battle, as NASCAR reserves the right to deny any sponsorship agreements it deems to be "detrimental" to the sport.

NASCAR driver Brandon Brown announces sponsorship deal with LGBcoin, cryptocurrency named for 'Let's Go, Brandon' meme



Days after NASCAR driver Brandon Brown told the media he was having difficulties finding a sponsor for his driving team, the man whose name inspired a meme is now sponsored by a cryptocurrency inspired by the "Let's Go Brandon" meme.

It's a story that's possible only in 2021.

Brown's first name became ubiquitous after an NBC sports reporter misheard a crowd chanting "F*** Joe Biden!" The 28-year-old driver had just claimed his first-ever NASCAR victory at the Taladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama, and the reporter incorrectly said the crowd was chanting "Let's Go, Brandon" to celebrate his win.

The moment, captured on video, instantly went viral. "Let's Go, Brandon" became a rallying cry of protest against President Joe Biden, an inside joke for conservatives and anyone else opposed to Biden's presidency, and an annoyance for the humorless left-wing media, which dubbed the phrase a "right-wing slur."

Meanwhile, the actual Brandon Brown just wanted to race. He told the New York Times in a recent interview that he had "zero desire to be involved in politics" and that he was leery of having his name associated with a coded "F*** Joe Biden" chant for fear of being "canceled" and losing potential sponsorship deals.

In another interview with Sports Business Journal, he said the meme became "extremely difficult" for his racing team.

“If you’re a national corporation, that means you sell to all consumers ... and unfortunately, when you get dragged into the political arena, people want you to take a side. I’ve never been put in a position where it’s, ‘OK, what side are you on? Left or right?’ So it’s hard for a brand to want to attach to somebody who might be kind of divisive in their consumer base," he said.

But it looks like Brown found a primary sponsor who is not only fine with the "Let's Go, Brandon" meme, but wants to capitalize on it.

Brown's team Brandonbilt Motorsports announced Thursday that the cryptocurrency meme coin LGBcoin.io (LGBcoin/$LGB) has signed on as the team's full-season primary partner for the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.

LGBcoin, according to a press release, is a new meme cryptocurrency "similar to other meme coins and tokens such as Dogecoin and Shiba Inu." Though LGBcoin has "no intrinsic value," the press release boasts that it has achieved a market capitalization of more than $300 million in fewer than six months, and that as "America's Coin," it "aims to inspire positivity and unity, grounded in a strong belief of the American dream."

“We are thrilled to partner with Brandonbilt Motorsports and Brandon Brown for the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season,” James Koutoulas, LGBcoin HODLer (a term derived from a misspelling of "hold," in the context of cryptocurrency trading) and founder of Typhoon Capital Management, a Miami-based hedge fund, said. “Brandon is not only an incredibly talented driver, but also a thoughtful individual wise beyond his years. His commitment and singular focus on his profession is inspiring and his personal story is one that we can all be proud of—an American story of success and perseverance. Brandon is truly America’s Driver.”

Brown shared a video on Twitter Thursday debuting his No. 68 Chevorlet Camaro, now painted in red, white, and blue with the LGBcoin.io logo featured prominently.

I\u2019m excited to welcome @LGBcoin_io aboard my No. 68 Chevrolet Camaro as our 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series full season primary partner!\n\nPress release: \n\nhttps://www.bmsraceteam.com/teamupdates\u00a0pic.twitter.com/s8PkfCtnVD
— Brandon Brown (@Brandon Brown) 1640877711

“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,” Brown said. “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.”

“We are proud to support Brandon this season, to help him continue his American dream,” Koutoulas said. “If we do our job right, when you think of us, and you hear, ‘Let’s Go Brandon,’ you’ll think and feel, ‘Let’s Go America.’”

NASCAR driver Brandon Brown speaks out, says he was afraid of being 'canceled' for anti-Biden chant



Brandon Brown, the NASCAR driver whose name has become part of a protest cry against President Joe Biden, told New York Times columnist Ben Smith that he has "zero desire to be involved in politics." But that won't stop him from speaking out about issues he knows people care about.

In a recent interview, Brown broke his silence about the rabidly popular political catchphrase that shares his name, created in an infamous moment on Oct. 2 when an NBC sports reporter said a crowd chanting "f*** Joe Biden" was cheering, "Let's go, Brandon."

The 28-year-old driver didn't know what the crowd was chanting either. Smith wrote that Brown was still coming down from the adrenaline high of winning his first-ever NASCAR victory at the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala. “This is a dream come true! Wow! Talladega! Dad, we did it!” Brown, exuberant, proclaimed in the post-race interview.

Little did he know that "Let's go, Brandon!" would soon be slapped on T-shirts, chanted at conservative political events, and used by Republicans with a wink and a nod as a coded message of defiance against the 46th president of the United States. In fact, Brown told the Times he didn't realize his name had become a meme until he checked Twitter after the race.

Smith wrote that Brown, a Republican, thought the meme was "kind of funny" at first, but he soon realized that it wasn't going away and that being connected to something as divisive as politics could jeopardize his corporate sponsorships and NASCAR career.

“Our whole navigation is, you want to appeal to everybody, because, all in all, everybody is a consumer,” Brown said. “I have zero desire to be involved in politics.”

He also doesn't particularly like the fact that his name is being used as a substitute for the F-word.

“I don’t want it to just be the substitute for a cuss-word,” Brown said, before reconsidering. "I mean, if it’s making it more polite, then, by God, I guess, go ahead.”

Smith wrote that a spokesman for Brown's racing team reached out to the Times after realizing that "waiting out the storm wasn't working" and "his silence on the matter seemed to be a political statement."

Brown emphasized that he doesn't want to be political. He just wants to focus on racing, but since his name has gone viral, he's been thinking about how to turn "Let's go, Brandon" into something positive.

To that end, Brown authored an op-ed that was published in Newsweek on Monday, discussing why he's been quiet until now.

"All the advice I got from those around my racing career was to stay quiet after that now-famous interview. No one knew how my sponsors would react and, in my world, there is no car to drive without the sponsors," Brown wrote.

"I was afraid of being canceled by my sponsors, or by the media, for being caught up in something that has little to do with me," he said.

Brown wrote that he's spent the last few weeks trying to understand why so many people have latched on to "Let's go, Brandon" as a protest chant.

"I understand that millions of people are struggling right now and are frustrated. Struggling to get by and struggling to build a solid life for themselves and their families, and wondering why their government only seems to make it worse. People have a right to frustration—even anger," he said.

He mentioned that as a NASCAR driver, inflation and "$4 per gallon gas" has hit him hard and that millions of "middle-class folks like me" are struggling with rising costs.

"I have no interest in leading some political fight. I race cars. I am not going to endorse anyone, and I am certainly not going to tell anyone how to vote," Brown wrote.

"But I'm also no longer going to be silent about the situation I find myself in, and why millions of Americans are chanting my name. I hear them, even if Washington does not."

He said that moving forward, "I am not going to hesitate to speak about issues I am passionate about, or the problems we face together as Americans."

Brown doesn't want to tell people how to vote. But he wants to use his free time to address the struggles every American shares and to voice the concerns of millions chanting his name.

He also suggests a new chant: "Let's go, America."