On Friday, November 5th NASCAR leadership must’ve left their marketing research and demographics at home as the racing organization publicly rebuked and condemned the “Let’s Go Brandon” chant that was born from the lips of NBC Sports reporter Kelli Stavast at Talladega Super Speedway, weakly attempting to obfuscate the audience’s vociferous cries of “F*ck Joe Biden” during her interview with winner Brandon Brown who seemed equally befuddled and played along. NASCAR President Steve Phelps, said that NASCAR does not want to be associated with either side of the political aisle, The Associated Press reported.
NASCAR President Fails to Read The Room
Now NASCAR brass trying to stay politically neutral and minimize the damage is one thing, but the company is going even further according to The Hill, “Phelps also noted that NASCAR will pursue legal action against any use of its trademarks appearing with the slogan. His comments come after former baseball star Lenny Dkystra on Wednesday posted a photo on Twitter of a man wearing a “Let’s go, Brandon” shirt alongside NASCAR’s color bars.”
“We will pursue whoever (is using logos) and get that stuff,” Phelps told the AP. “That’s not OK. It’s not OK that you’re using our trademarks illegally, regardless of whether we agree with what the position is.”
A key member of #TeamNails was pleased to see this just a few min ago at a Holiday Inn Express in Passaic County, NJ (as, it seemed, was everyone else eating there) #LetsGoBrandon #FuckJoeBiden @GETTRofficial @alliesinger @I_AmMelissa_ @DolansBar @DonaldJTrumpJr @JasonMillerinDC pic.twitter.com/nD46Jtn7B8
— Lenny Dykstra (@LennyDykstra) November 3, 2021
“It’s an unfortunate situation and I feel for Brandon, I feel for Kelli,” Phelps told the news outlet. “I think unfortunately it speaks to the state of where we are as a country. We do not want to associate ourselves with politics, the left or the right.” That would be all very well and good, but the notion that Phelps would turn the multi-billion dollar legal apparatus of NASCAR against some cottage-industry level tee-shirt makers is a bit over the top and has created a well-expected blowback among conservative race fans.
Hey @NASCAR FU. LETS GO BRANDON.
— Corky Swift (@CorkySwift2) November 6, 2021
Apparently @NASCAR who tried so hard to cover the #LetsGoBrandon chant, now believes they own the rights to it….
— The Evan Principle™ (@EvanPrinciple) November 6, 2021
Whoever has been managing the public relations of NASCAR seems to have fumbled the situation far beyond badly and the blowback from a fanatically devoted audience is going to find the motorsports group precisely where Mr. Phelps avowedly never wants to be: politicized. In this action he has caused his organization to indeed take a side, and a side in defiance of the vast majority of its audience.
