Cannabis Companies Do Not Have It Easy in NASCAR, Despite What Kyle Busch Breakthrough Might Suggest

Richard Childress Racing just announced Kyle Busch’s new sponsor as 3chi. The same company sponsored the number 8 car even when Tyler Reddick was driving it. But what does 3Chi do exactly? Well, they are a cannabis product company. There used to be a time when NASCAR forbade running cannabis manufacturer sponsors. But now it seems that things have changed.

Back in 2009, one Carl Long, turned up at the NASCAR Cup Series race in Kansas, with a rather unique sponsor. His car sported a green decal with the logo of a company called Veedverks. Turns out it was a cannabis product company. As soon as NASCAR caught onto what was going on, they asked Long to remove the decal before the race.

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NASCAR did not specify the exact reason for the removal of the decals. However, Long did state that there was a spelling error in the brand’s name. Through a Facebook post, Long stated, “We submitted a mispelled to Nascar. It would never been allowed. Just leave it to me to create a big stink.”

Richard Childress defended his partnership with 3CHI

When 3Chi ended up signing a sponsorship deal for the #8 car, once again, NASCAR was a bit uncomfortable. Since the company’s logo was literally a cannabis leaf, some hiccups occurred within NASCAR during the approval stages. However, the RCR boss made sure that there were no problems with running it by as they came up with an alternative solution.

When the #8 car came out with the new sponsorship, it had the logo of the brand missing. Instead, the car’s livery only mentioned the word “3Chi” on it. The president of Richard Childress Racing later said, “We’re proud of our role as industry leaders in this category and look forward to introducing a pioneer in hemp-based consumer products to NASCAR, as well as educating fans about 3CHI’s innovative, science-based products.”

Later on, Childress himself said, “I’m just really thrilled to be part of the very first time out… For us to have it on the car means a whole lot.”

It definitely was not the first time for a cannabis company to run on a NASCAR car. But perhaps with time, the atmosphere and the taboo surrounding such products have greatly changed. Moreover, NASCAR has also become more and more progressive.

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Just a year prior to 3Chi’s arrival, another cannabis company had sponsored a Cup Series race, namely, the “Pocono Organics CBD 325.” Yes, there were a few omissions from the official name of the race being broadcast. But the big thing was that a new market segment was technically allowed to sponsor in NASCAR.