Brandon Brown
Brown at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2021
BornBrandon Lee Brown
(1993-09-14) September 14, 1993
Woodbridge, Virginia, U.S.
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
150 races run over 7 years
2022 position17th
Best finish11th (2020)
First race2016 Virginia 529 College Savings 250 (Richmond)
Last race2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race (Phoenix)
First win2021 Sparks 300 (Talladega)
Wins Top tens Poles
1 20 0
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
22 races run over 4 years
2017 position97th
Best finish25th (2016)
First race2014 American Ethanol 200 (Iowa)
Last race2017 Alpha Energy Solutions 250 (Martinsville)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 1 0
Statistics current as of November 5, 2022.

Brandon Lee Brown[1] (born September 14, 1993) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving for several teams including the No. 68 Chevrolet Camaro for Brandonbilt Motorsports.

Brown inadvertently became associated with politics after winning the 2021 Sparks 300, when NBC Sports reporter Kelli Stavast's misstating of a crowd chant led to "Let's Go Brandon" becoming a political slogan used against U.S. President Joe Biden.

Racing career

Early career

Brown first started racing when he was ten, driving go-karts at King George Speedway before moving to dirt track racing, winning the 2006 World Karting Association Mid-South Region Jr. championship. Two years later, he won the Jr. Restricted Light and Heavy Division championships, followed by the VDKA Series and Jr. Restricted Light and Heavy Division championships in 2009.[2] In 2010, Brown began competing in the Whelen All-American Series with family-owned Brandonbilt Motorsports,[3] winning a race and eventually the Virginia Rookie of the Year Award.[2] The next year, he won three races at Old Dominion Speedway.[4]

NASCAR

Brown's No. 68 Xfinity car in 2019

In 2014, Brown made his Camping World Truck Series debut at Iowa Speedway,[4] finishing 25th after starting 27th.[5] He made two more starts in the year, with a best finish of 19th at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.[6]

The following year, he attempted eight races but failed to qualify for three. After starting the season with a 29th-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway,[7] he ended the year with a best finish of 14th at Dover International Speedway.[6]

In the 2016 season opener at Daytona International Speedway, Brown finished a career-best fourth place.[8] Brown made his Xfinity Series debut at his home track of Richmond International Raceway in September 2016. Brown increased his Xfinity Series schedule in 2017, with intentions of running ten races in addition to select Truck races.[9]

After driving a full-time Xfinity Series schedule in 2019 for 2 teams, Brown drove the No. 68 Chevrolet for Brandonbilt Motorsports the following year. He made his first appearance in the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs, finishing 12th in the regular-season standings, but was eliminated following the first round.[10]

In 2021, Brown tied his best career finish with a sixth at Daytona,[11] followed by an eighth-place finish at the Daytona Road Course.[12] He improved on his best finish at Phoenix when he finished third after various leaders were forced into the wall on an overtime restart.

At the Sparks 300 at Talladega in October 2021, Brown was in contention throughout the latter part of the race after escaping the first big wreck that took place on lap 88. As the race started late in the day because of the Truck race that was completed just earlier, there was a chance that the race would be called early if another caution had come out as it was starting to get dark. With a push from behind, Brown, who was not in the playoffs, was able to narrowly get ahead of Brandon Jones and Justin Allgaier in time when the final caution of the race came out with 13 to go due to another big crash. The race was ultimately called with five laps to go due to darkness, and Brown would score his first career Xfinity Series win in his 114th start.[13]

Sponsorships

Coastal Carolina University, Brown’s alma mater, served as a primary sponsor on Brown's truck and Xfinity car during the early part of his career.[9][14]

When his team was struggling to find sponsorship during the 2021 season, Brown made a Twitter video in June 2021, dressing up as a 'used car salesman' in an attempt to promote his team and find available sponsors for upcoming races.[15] The video paid off as Brandonbilt Motorsports announced they had secured enough sponsorship, including one from American PetroLog,[16] a provider of logistics services for the petrochemical industry, as well as cryptocurrency company TradeTheChain.com, to finish off the rest of the season.[17]

"Let's Go Brandon"

After his first win at Talladega, Brown was being interviewed at the start-finish line by NBC Sports reporter Kelli Stavast, when many in the crowd began to chant "Fuck Joe Biden."[18] Stavast stated, "You can hear the chants from the crowd, 'Let's go, Brandon!'"[19] It is unclear whether she legitimately misheard the chant or whether she intentionally misquoted it.[20][21]

This gave rise to the political slogan "Let's Go Brandon" as a euphemism against Biden. Brown initially responded to the new political slogan with the lighthearted tweet, "To all the other Brandons out there, You're welcome! Let's go us".[22] However, he was privately ambivalent about the phrase, because it overshadowed his Talladega win and threatened to scare off corporate sponsors, who were leery of controversy.[23] His plan originally was to simply ignore the phrase, but as several months passed and it remained in widespread use, he worried that his silence was perceived as a tacit endorsement of the sentiment.[23] Later that month, the Associated Press reported that Brown's Brandonbilt Motorsports team, which is family owned, was struggling to acquire sponsorship as companies were hesitant to support him due to his indirect association with the chant and its political undertones.[24][25]

In December 2021, he broke his silence on the matter in an interview with The New York Times in which he stated that, though he was a Republican, he wanted "to appeal to everybody" and had "zero desire to be involved in politics". Brown expressed his wishes for the slogan to instead be used in a positive context.[23] He also published an op-ed in Newsweek, in which he took a more mixed stance, stating that he was "not going to endorse anyone", but that he was "not going to hesitate to speak about issues I am passionate about, or the problems we face together as Americans".[26]

For the 2022 Henry 180 at Road America, Brown's No. 68 car promoted the children's book Brandon Spots His Sign by Sheletta Brundidge. The book follows her son Brandon, who has autism, and his interpretation of the phrase as a motivational message for him to try new activities. The Brundidges attended the race as special guests of the team and gave out copies of the book at the track. Brown described the partnership as a "breakthrough moment for us" that proved "this can be positive. This can be good. It doesn't have to be hateful or divisive."[27]

LGBCoin sponsorship

On December 30, 2021, Brown announced that meme coin Let's Go Brandon Coin (LGBCoin) would become his primary sponsor for the full 2022 season.[28] However, the sponsorship was rejected by NASCAR, who added that it had not been approved at the time of Brown's announcement. Brandonbilt Motorsports and LGBCoin's investors disputed NASCAR's statement, citing communications between the team and NASCAR officials, while LGBCoin manager James Koutoulas threatened legal action.[29] Brown eventually signed a two-year personal endorsement deal with LGBCoin.[30]

A January 2022 Change.org petition by LGBCoin claimed Brown's existing sponsors withdrew their funding as the chant grew in popularity before deleting the allegation. 2021 associate sponsors The Mohawk Foundation and Shenandoah Shine answered in the contrary, with the former's founder Ryne Hoover noting a lack of response from Brown following his Talladega win while the latter's Garrett Delph said sponsors had been "forced out" by LGBCoin. Nevertheless, they expressed willingness to resume their support should they reconcile with Brown.[31] Original Larry's Hard Lemonade Brewing Company, who was the team's primary sponsor at Talladega, severed ties as Larry's owner Vic Reynolds voiced his frustration with Brown focusing on a dubious sponsor over committing to those already backing him; Reynolds later clarified he and Brown were still close friends but felt "betrayed" by Brown's actions.[32][31] On January 13, Brown posted a Twitter statement explaining Brandonbilt had yet to renew sponsorship deals for 2022 during the offseason and that LGBCoin presented a "dream come true offer." He also apologized to his previous sponsors for his silence and maintained his goal to change "Let's Go Brandon" into a positive phrase.[33]

Prior to the 2022 Xfinity season, Brandonbilt Motorsports hired a sales staff to search for sponsorship.[34] Ahead of the first race at Daytona, where merchandise with the phrase was prominently displayed by fans, Brown remarked to the AP that he hoped "they know it's for me and they're pulling for me. [...] Let's go Brandon to get to Victory Lane."[32] In February 2022, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a lawsuit against Bitconnect that the Securities Act of 1933 extends to targeted solicitation using social media.[35] In April 2022, a class-action lawsuit was filed in Florida against the LGBcoin cryptocurrency company, Brown, NASCAR, and political commentator Candace Owens alleging that the defendants made false or misleading statements about the LGBcoin and that the founders of the company had engaged in a pump and dump scheme.[36]

Personal life

Brown graduated from Coastal Carolina University in 2018 with a degree in communication;[37] he was also a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.[2] The school served as a primary sponsor on Brown's truck and Xfinity car during the early part of his career.[9][14]

Brown's father and team owner, Jerry, underwent "aggressive" treatment for cancer after being diagnosed during a routine check-up on April 7, 2020.[38] Brown revealed that his father was cancer-free on August 26.[39]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Xfinity Series

NASCAR Xfinity Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 NXSC Pts Ref
2016 Brandonbilt Motorsports 86 Chevy DAY ATL LVS PHO CAL TEX BRI RCH TAL DOV CLT POC MCH IOW DAY KEN NHA IND IOW GLN MOH BRI ROA DAR RCH
29		 CHI KEN DOV CLT KAN
25		 TEX PHO HOM
23		 117th 01 [40]
2017 90 DAY ATL
23		 LVS PHO CAL TEX BRI RCH
25		 TAL CLT DOV
17		 POC MCH
33		 IOW DAY
37		 KEN
DNQ		 NHA IND IOW
29		 GLN MOH BRI
25		 ROA DAR
20		 RCH
27		 CHI KEN DOV
25		 CLT KAN TEX PHO HOM 36th 110 [41]
2018 86 DAY
36		 ATL LVS PHO CAL TEX BRI HOM
24		 42nd 94 [42]
90 RCH
19		 TAL DOV
28		 CLT POC MCH IOW CHI DAY KEN NHA IOW GLN MOH BRI ROA DAR
18		 IND LVS RCH ROV DOV
22		 KAN TEX
18		 PHO
2019 86 DAY
18		 ATL
13		 LVS
17		 PHO
15		 CAL
15		 TEX
17		 BRI
23		 TAL
15		 DOV
13		 POC
13		 MCH
26		 IOW
31		 CHI
22		 DAY
6		 KEN
17		 NHA
16		 IOW
27		 GLN
18		 BRI
12		 ROA
37		 DAR
33		 IND
28		 LVS
16		 RCH
34		 DOV
11		 KAN
18		 TEX
25		 PHO
20		 15th 574 [43]
RSS Racing 93 Chevy RCH
20
Brandonbilt Motorsports 68 Chevy CLT
20		 MOH
24		 ROV
17		 HOM
13
2020 DAY
7		 LVS
11		 CAL
33		 PHO
12		 DAR
13		 CLT
8		 BRI
7		 ATL
12		 HOM
14		 HOM
36		 TAL
11		 POC
33		 IRC
11		 KEN
27		 KEN
13		 TEX
10		 KAN
11		 ROA
12		 DRC
34		 DOV
14		 DOV
16		 DAY
26		 DAR
17		 RCH
18		 RCH
11		 BRI
12		 LVS
15		 TAL
9		 ROV
26		 KAN
13		 TEX
5		 MAR
18		 PHO
12		 11th 2170 [44]
2021 DAY
6		 DRC
8		 HOM
34		 LVS
11		 PHO
3		 ATL
33		 MAR
27		 TAL
7		 DAR
24		 DOV
10		 COA
26		 CLT
4		 MOH
6		 TEX
13		 NSH
35		 POC
15		 ROA
11		 ATL
31		 NHA
17		 GLN
12		 IRC
34		 MCH
40		 DAY
34		 DAR
28		 RCH
8		 BRI
14		 LVS
22		 TAL
1		 ROV
22		 TEX
33		 KAN
14		 MAR
36		 PHO
20		 16th 620 [45]
2022 DAY
10		 CAL
11		 LVS
29		 PHO
13		 ATL
18		 COA
20		 RCH
8		 MAR
34		 TAL
30		 DOV
18		 DAR
35		 TEX
15		 CLT
17		 PIR
12		 NSH
11		 ROA
34		 ATL
33		 NHA
3		 POC
13		 MCH
13		 DAY
4		 TEX
24		 TAL
33		 17th 538 [46]
Mike Harmon Racing 47 Chevy IRC
34
B. J. McLeod Motorsports 5 Chevy GLN
32		 BRI
38
78 DAR
29		 ROV
20		 LVS HOM
Our Motorsports 02 Chevy KAN
17
SS-Green Light Racing 08 Ford MAR
19		 PHO
37

Camping World Truck Series

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 NCWTC Pts Ref
2014 Brandonbilt Motorsports 86 Chevy DAY MAR KAN CLT DOV TEX GTW KEN IOW
25		 ELD POC MCH BRI MSP CHI NHA
19		 LVS TAL MAR
24		 TEX PHO HOM 46th 64 [47]
2015 DAY ATL
29		 MAR
DNQ		 KAN CLT
DNQ		 DOV
14		 TEX GTW IOW KEN
25		 ELD POC MCH BRI MSP CHI NHA
27		 LVS TAL MAR
DNQ		 TEX PHO HOM
32		 39th 93 [48]
2016 DAY
4		 ATL
19		 MAR
14		 KAN
12		 DOV
31		 CLT
26		 TEX IOW
24		 KEN
20		 ELD
22		 POC
24		 BRI
23		 MCH MSP CHI NHA LVS TAL
25		 MAR TEX PHO HOM 25th 153 [49]
MAKE Motorsports GTW
32
2017 Martins Motorsports 44 Chevy DAY
DNQ		 ATL MAR
27		 KAN 97th 01 [50]
Brandonbilt Motorsports 86 Chevy CLT
DNQ		 DOV TEX GTW IOW KEN ELD POC MCH BRI MSP CHI NHA LVS TAL MAR TEX PHO HOM

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

References

  1. ↑ "Team Event Rosters – Texas Motor Speedway – Saturday, October 24, 2020" (PDF). NASCAR. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 "Brandon". Brandon Brown. Archived from the original on February 22, 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  3. ↑ "TRUCKS: Brandon Brown Last At Homestead; Caleb Roark Repeats As LASTCAR Champ". LASTCAR. November 23, 2015. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  4. 1 2 "Brandon Brown Making NASCAR Debut at Iowa". Race 22. Archived from the original on June 19, 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  5. ↑ "2014 American Ethanol 200 Presented by Enogen". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  6. 1 2 Bonkowski, Jerry (January 26, 2016). "Dick Vitale predicts Brandon Brown will win Daytona truck race, baby". NBC Sports. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  7. ↑ "2015 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  8. ↑ Turner, Jared (February 19, 2016). "Johnny Sauter wins wreck-marred NCWTS race at Daytona". Foxsports.com. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 Albino, Dustin (January 5, 2017). "Brandon Brown Sets 2017 Part-Time NASCAR XFINITY, Trucks Schedule". Frontstretch. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  10. ↑ Glover, Luken (October 10, 2020). "Title Hopes End for Brandon Brown, Harrison Burton, Michael Annett & Riley Herbst". Frontstretch. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Checkered in 6th Place!". The Larry's Lemonade. February 13, 2021. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Xfinity Daytona Road Course Results" (PDF). NBC Sports. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  13. ↑ "Brandon Brown wins first Xfinity race after darkness falls at Talladega". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. October 2, 2021. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  14. 1 2 Riggs, Kelsey (August 31, 2015). "CCU backs student driving in NASCAR's Truck Series". WBTW. Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  15. ↑ "LOOK: NASCAR driver Brandon Brown goes full 'used car salesman' in hilarious 'ad' to attract sponsorship". CBS Sports. June 10, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  16. ↑ Colonna, Jeff (September 22, 2021). "American PetroLog Announces NASCAR Sponsorship". American Petrolog.
  17. ↑ "Hustle for sponsors pays off for Xfinity driver Brandon Brown". nbcssports.com. NBC Sports. September 8, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  18. ↑ Stieb, Matt (October 29, 2021). "How the Anti-Biden Song "Let's Go Brandon" Became a Shadow Smash". New York Magazine.
  19. ↑ Delkic, Melina (October 31, 2021). "Why a Pilot Is Under Investigation for Saying 'Let's Go Brandon'". The New York Times. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  20. ↑ Long, Colleen (October 30, 2021). "How 'Let's Go Brandon' became code for insulting Joe Biden". Associated Press. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  21. ↑ Fryer, Jenna (November 5, 2021). "NASCAR denounces 'Let's go, Brandon' conservative rally cry". Associated Press. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
  22. ↑ Schwedel, Heather (October 22, 2021). "The Story Behind "Let's Go Brandon," the Secretly Vulgar Chant Suddenly Beloved by Republicans". Slate. Archived from the original on October 24, 2021. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
  23. 1 2 3 Smith, Ben (December 19, 2021). "Brandon Just Wants to Drive His Racecar". The New York Times. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  24. ↑ "How 'Let's Go Brandon' became code for insulting Joe Biden". AP NEWS. October 30, 2021. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
  25. ↑ Fambro, Cassie (November 4, 2021). "'Let's Go Brandon' Crowd Pinching Real Brandon's Pocketbook". Patch. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  26. ↑ Brown, Brandon (December 20, 2021). "My Name Is Brandon".
  27. ↑ Megargee, Steve (July 2, 2022). "Child helps Brown put new spin on 'Let's go, Brandon' chant". Bradenton Herald. AP. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
  28. ↑ DeGroot, Nick (January 5, 2022). "Cryptocurrency meme coin LGBcoin to sponsor Brandon Brown in 2022". us.motorsport.com. Motorsport. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  29. ↑ Andrejev, Alex. "NASCAR said no to 'Let's Go Brandon' sponsorship. Now sponsor is threatening to sue". Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  30. ↑ Jordan, Jerry (January 8, 2022). "Shunned by NASCAR, LGBcoin Not Giving Up on Brandon Brown or Racing". Kickin' the Tires. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
  31. 1 2 Burroughs, Matthew (January 13, 2022). "The Forgotten Sponsors of Brandon Brown: A NASCAR Chronicle". TehBen. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
  32. 1 2 "Let's go Brandon: Driver caught in unwinnable culture war". USA Today. AP. February 19, 2022. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
  33. ↑ Walters, Shane (January 14, 2022). "NASCAR driver looking to change 'Let's Go Brandon' narrative". Racing News. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
  34. ↑ Jordan, Jerry (February 19, 2022). "NASCAR Xfinity Series Driver Brandon Brown Attacking 2022 and Not Looking Back". Kickin' the Tires. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
  35. ↑ Lawler, Richard (February 18, 2022). "Influencers beware: promoting the wrong crypto could mean facing a class-action lawsuit". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
  36. ↑ Seitz, Jacob (April 8, 2022). "'Let's Go Brandon' Coin: NASCAR, Brandon Brown, Candace Owens sued for promoting failed crypto in pump-and-dump scheme". The Daily Dot. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  37. ↑ "Press Release – Darlington Throwback Weekend". Brandonbilt Motorsports. August 13, 2019. Archived from the original on August 13, 2019. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  38. ↑ "Brandon Brown wants to reward father with a special celebration". nbcssports.com. NBC Sports. August 7, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  39. ↑ Brandon Brown [@brandonbrown_68] (August 26, 2020). "JERRY BROWN BEAT CANCER!!!!!!! So damn proud! There's nothing this man can't do! Can't wait to have my dad back at the track with me. I love you dadRed heart" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  40. ↑ "Brandon Brown – 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  41. ↑ "Brandon Brown – 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  42. ↑ "Brandon Brown – 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  43. ↑ "Brandon Brown – 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  44. ↑ "Brandon Brown – 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
  45. ↑ "Brandon Brown – 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  46. ↑ "Brandon Brown – 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
  47. ↑ "Brandon Brown – 2014 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  48. ↑ "Brandon Brown – 2015 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  49. ↑ "Brandon Brown – 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  50. ↑ "Brandon Brown – 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
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