NASCAR Reportedly Pumping the Brakes on Driver’s Controversial ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ Sponsorship
When NASCAR driver Brandon Brown unveiled his new ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ car on Thursday, his team said the sport approved the sponsorship. But NASCAR is reportedly saying not so fast.
According to a Friday report from Josh Peter of USA Today, NASCAR is still reviewing the details of Brown’s new car embracing the right-wing slogan that came to mean “F*ck Joe Biden.”
Brown’s team believed they secured a full-season sponsorship deal with LGBcoin, a cryptocurrency inspired by the ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ slogan.
On Thursday, they issued a press release and video showing off Brown’s new Chevrolet Camaro that prominently features ‘LGB’ painted on the car. Brown has been connected to the anti-Biden chant since the slogan was born.
I’m excited to welcome @LGBcoin_io aboard my No. 68 Chevrolet Camaro as our 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series full season primary partner!
Press release: https://t.co/yWfkonk8vO pic.twitter.com/s8PkfCtnVD
— Brandon Brown (@brandonbrown_68) December 30, 2021
After winning his first Xfinity Series race at Talladega in October, chants of “F*ck Joe Biden” bled into the broadcast during Brown’s postrace interview. The reporter conducting the interview misheard the chants and claimed the crowd was yelling “Let’s Go Brandon” to celebrate Brown’s victory, and the euphemism quickly gained national attention.
Max Marcucci, a PR strategist who represents Brown and his Brandonbilt Motorsports team insisted that they received approval from NASCAR to move forward with the sponsorship. “I don’t know where the disconnect was,” Marcucci told Peter in regards to USA Today’s report that NASCAR is still reviewing the deal.
The announcement caught many by surprise, considering less than two weeks ago, Brown told the New York Times he has “zero desire to be involved in politics.” But the driver appeared to flip-flop on that stance by now wanting to embrace ‘Let’s Go Brandon,’ a slogan that is very political.
In November, NASCAR similarly attempted to distance itself from politics, calling the anti-Biden chant an “unfortunate situation.” It remains to be seen whether the sport allows Brown to paint his car with LGB for 33 races during next season’s NASCAR Xfinity Series.
