Brandonbilt Motorsports was informed Tuesday night the LGBcoin.io sponsorship is not approved for use on Brandon Brown’s No. 86 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
The decision comes as officials returned from the holiday break to go through the official approval process, which the team claimed was already done. However, a NASCAR spokesperson told RACER the submission from the team, which was sent on Christmas Day, was not done through the appropriate portal and was incorrectly approved without proper understanding of the LGBcoin. Additionally, the sponsor’s submission was also not clearly defined.
NASCAR did not issue a formal statement on the decision.
Teams are required to submit all sponsors and paint schemes through a portal for the appropriate individuals to consider. The portal for the 2022 season was not yet open when the LGBcoin sponsor was submitted, and it was done via email. It was listed as cryptocurrency and did not list any political association.
LGBcoin is a meme coin that plays on the “Let’s Go Brandon” slogan. In the original announcement on Dec. 30 of LGBcoin.io sponsoring Brown for the full Xfinity Series season (pictured above), it was described as “America’s coin” meant to “inspire positivity and unity, grounded in a strong belief of the American dream.”
“We are proud to support Brandon this season, to help him continue his American dream,” said James Koutoulas, LGBcoin founder. “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.’”
Additionally, NASCAR officials met with Brown and his team back in November at Phoenix Raceway before the season finale, at the team’s request for counsel. Brown and company were informed at that time the sponsorship would not be approved, and NASCAR would be moving away from political messaging on race cars while still respecting the office of the sitting president, as NASCAR president Steve Phelps reiterated in November when asked about the “Let’s Go Brandon” chant.
Updated guidelines for teams on sponsorship and paint schemes is expected to be laid out in the coming days.
Brandonbilt Motorsports has not responded for a request for comment. However, a tweet from Koutoulas indicated a lawsuit on the matter could be brought:
The @brandonbrown_68 went through proper @NASCAR approval process and received formal written approval. If @nascar revokes approval, we will bring suit upon them on behalf of all @LGBcoin_io HODLers who were damaged by their reliance on @nascar written approval & #cancelnascar https://t.co/Tt2dIhWhkS pic.twitter.com/3ooI4VTSMG
— James Koutoulas (@jameskoutoulas) January 5, 2022
