NASCAR driver is victim of somebody else’s mistake

NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Brandon Brown is being penalized for a mistake made by somebody else, and NASCAR isn’t exactly helping the matter.

More individuals understand the meaning of “Let’s go Brandon” than know the name of NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Brandon Brown, but that hasn’t stopped cancel culture from placing a firm stranglehold on Brown’s career – because of “Let’s go Brandon”.

“Let’s go Brandon” is a phrase made famous after Brown earned his first Xfinity Series victory at Talladega Superspeedway this past October.

During his post-race interview with Kelli Stavast on the frontstretch, fans began chanting “F— Joe Biden”, a chant that had become quite popular at various sporting events over the previous few months.

NBC Sports viewers were told that the chant was a “Let’s go Brandon” chant, and with that incorrect statement, the phrase became a viral meme.

Some have speculated that NBC Sports reporter Kelli Stavast was told to say what she said. Others have suggested she actually believed it was a “Let’s go Brandon” chant, and others have suggested that she was trying to distract from the actual “FJB” chant. We don’t know for sure and won’t pretend we do.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, because the effects on Brown’s career are the same.

The phrase has effectively become the SFW replacement for “FJB”, and NASCAR stated toward the end of the season that they wished to distance themselves from the phrase and that they will be coming after those illegally using it on apparel in conjunction with their trademarked bars.

And now Brown is, quite literally, the victim of somebody else’s mistake (because yes, it was a mistake, no matter how you look at it), and he has struggled to find sponsorship ahead of the 2022 season.

This quest took an even more painful and unfortunate turn earlier this week.

LGBcoin, a cryptocurrency meme coin on the Ethereum blockchain playing off the “Let’s Go Brandon” phrase, believed they had been given approval by NASCAR to sponsor the 28-year-old Woodbridge, Virginia native’s #68 Brandonbilt Motorsports Chevrolet for the full 2022 season.

An email shared by James Koutoulas, the founder of Typhoon Capital Management and an LGBcoin investor, literally contained the words “the sponsors are approved” in a NASCAR response to the team’s paint scheme/sponsorship submission.

But an attempt to turn a less than ideal situation into an opportunity was halted, as NASCAR ended up rejecting the sponsor after all.

Somewhere along the line, there was a miscommunication/oversight. And yet again, Brown is the one paying for it.

Sure, you could say it really started with the fans who were doing the “FJB” chant, and that’s not inherently incorrect.

However, that trend had been going on long before that night at Talladega Superspeedway, specifically at college football games.

And in no other situation have viewers been told “FJB” was something it wasn’t. So naturally, no other athletes have been unwillingly forced under the microscope that Brown now is.

He truly is the victim of a mistake he had nothing to do with, and NASCAR isn’t exactly doing him any favors.

What’s next? He won’t be able to get a sponsor because his last name is the same as Antonio Brown’s and nobody will want to associate with him? Hey, maybe the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will become approved as a sponsor – and then be told they weren’t actually approved. Stranger things have happened.