Arts
'Grab life by the beans': NASCAR driver turns heads, gains sponsors with viral videos
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (FOX 46 CHARLOTTE) – Personality is helping NASCAR driver Brandon Brown gain new sponsors that have never been a part of racing before. The 28-year-old driver in the Xfinity Series is taking advantage of social media and the fun side of life.
A series of videos on Twitter has gained millions of impressions and at least half a dozen new sponsors. The first video was published this summer.
“When we were making this video and it was cheesy and it was corny, we were using the weirdest add-ins. I figured it would get a couple of laughs,” said Brown.
The video features Brown as a car sales representative, with a “for sale” sign on the hood of his racecar. The video received more than just a few laughs.
“To see this video hit more than two and a half million impressions, you’re like I didn’t even know that was possible,” said Brown.
The effort to “sell” his car space to sponsors proved successful. The Brandonbilt Motorsports website is now filled with press releases announcing new sponsors. The car/team has filled its quota for the rest of the NASCAR season.
With sponsorship sold for the rest of the year, Brown can now focus solely on driving.
“It’s one of those things when you have time to focus on your craft and be the best you can be behind the wheel, I don’t see where that is going to hurt,” said Brown.
Even before the social media videos, Brown was already making an impression on the track with his best season ever by scoring 8 top ten finishes.
The sponsorship campaign started out as simple a way to catch the attention of people within the garage area.
“I had the idea to put the big for sale sign on the car, just because I wanted people to say oh my gosh is Brandon selling his team, selling his car, what is going on? It looks like one you would put on the windshield of the car on the side of the road,” said Brown.
Brown didn’t stop with one video, a second video presenting a new sponsor premiered last month in which Brown says “Are you ready to grab life by the beans?”.
The beans Brown was referring to are coffee beans from new sponsor Haymaker Coffee.
Brown hopes to finish out the Xfinity Series season by making it into the championship playoffs. As for next season, he plans to race full time in the series and is already slowly working on lining up sponsors.
Part of lining up those sponsors could include more social media videos, so Brown says to keep an eye out.
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