NASCAR rejected a sponsorship deal this week for Xfinity Series driver Brandon Brown that made reference to the phrase “Let’s Go Brandon,” the viral political chant that conservatives use to criticize President Biden.

NASCAR officials reviewed the sponsorship and decided not to approve the deal. The decision came days after Brown’s team, Brandonbilt Motorsports, publicly announced the sponsorship deal with LGBcoin.io, described as a “cryptocurrency meme coin.”

The Washington Post and Fox Sports were first to report on the decision. The Washington Post reported that despite the team’s announcement, NASCAR did not formally review the sponsorship until Tuesday, when the decision was made.

Max Marcucci a spokesperson for Brandonbilt Motorsports, ripped the decision in a lengthy statement.

“We are disappointed that NASCAR leadership has chosen to rescind approval of this sponsorship and feel they should have the confidence to own their decision to backtrack and not gaslight a team or a driver,” Marcucci said.

“Like every team, we rely on productive and friendly working relationships at all levels of NASCAR. Unfortunately, NASCAR leadership’s handling of this situation now threatens to strain our relationships and places us in an incredibly awkward position, yet again.”

NASCAR has yet to publicly comment on the situation. However, an official told the Washington Post that the organization never backtracked because the sponsorship deal never received formal approval.

The phrase “Let’s Go Brandon” first rose to national awareness after Brown won a race an Xfinity Series race at Talladega Superspeedway in October. During a postrace interview, the crowd began chanting “F— Joe Biden,” though the reporter suggested they were actually saying “Let’s Go Brandon.”

Since then, the slogan has become a rallying cry for conservatives expressing dissatisfaction with the Biden administration.

NASCAR President Steve Phelps tried to distance the circuit from the chant in November.

Brandon Brown is pictured during pre-race ceremonies at the NASCAR Xfinity Series Kansas Lottery 300 in Oct. 2021.Getty Images

“I think, unfortunately, it speaks to the state of where we are as a country,” Phelps said at an event. “We do not want to associate ourselves with politics, the left or the right. We obviously have and we’ve always had, as a sport, tremendous respect for the office of the president — no matter who is sitting.”

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