NASCAR driver Brandon Brown announces sponsor inspired by ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ chant
NASCAR’s Brandon Brown was unable to secure sponsorship after the right-wing slogan “Let’s Go Brandon” went viral following his win in October at Talladega, but the Xfinity Series driver is now embracing the controversial chant.
On Dec. 30, Brown revealed his partnership with LGBCoin, a cryptocurrency company whose first three letters are a reference to the hot-button phrase, by unveiling his new car.
“We are thrilled to partner with Brandonbilt Motorsports and Brandon Brown for the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season,” James Koutoulas, LGBcoin HODLer and founder of Typhoon Capital Management, said in a news release.
“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.”
Brown tweeted the news release along with a video of him walking into the garage and seeing the car for the first time.
“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, however, has not yet approved the sponsor and paint scheme, a NASCAR spokesperson said Thursday evening. All sponsorship must be approved by NASCAR officials through a formal submission process, which has not occurred in this case. Brown’s team has submitted the sponsorship to NASCAR for consideration, the spokesperson said.
NASCAR has attempted to distance itself from the chant after an NBC Sports reporter suggested fans were chanting “Let’s Go Brandon” during an interview with Brown, Fox NY said. The crowd at Talladega Superspeedway actually was chanting F--- Joe Biden.
“We do not want to associate ourselves with politics, the left or the right,” NASCAR president Steve Phelps said in November, Yahoo! Sports reported. “We obviously have and we’ve always had as a sport tremendous respect for the office of the president no matter who is sitting.
“I think it’s an unfortunate situation. Do we like the fact that it kind of started with NASCAR and then is gaining ground elsewhere? No, we’re not happy about that. But we will continue to make sure that we have respect for the office of the president.”
Brown said earlier in December that he has “zero desire to be involved in politics” in an interview with The New York Times. Brown also said that he was struggling to secure corporate sponsorship because of the euphemism.
“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.”
This story was originally published December 30, 2021 at 1:37 PM with the headline "NASCAR driver Brandon Brown announces sponsor inspired by ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ chant."