Bubba Wallace, the only black full-time driver in NASCAR, signed a multiyear sponsorship agreement with Cash App, a consumer finance service app. As part of the deal, the Richard Petty Motorsports Chevorlet Camaro ZL1 1LE driven by Wallace will don Cash App branding for five Cup Series races, starting this weekend at the Texas Motor Speedway.
The remaining four races will be at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway. Cash App will also be prominent on Wallace’s checkered suit, his crew’s apparel and in the Richard Petty Motorsports pit box.
The deal is Cash App’s first partnership with a sports team and its first traditional athletic sponsorship.
“Bubba Wallace is a once-in-a-generation talent, and we are proud to partner with Richard Petty Motorsports to usher in this new era of racing,” Garrett McManus, artistic development lead for Cash App, said. “We stand with Bubba, and we are thrilled to team up on the next part of his journey.”
In the aftermath of nationwide protests for racial equality, spurred by the killing of George Floyd, Wallace, who debuted in the Cup Series in 2017, went from middle-of-the-pack driver to spotlight activist. He pushed Nascar to ban the confederate flag at events, wore an “I can’t breathe” shirt in honor of Floyd and gave his Camaro a Black Lives Matter theme. Despite the increased attention, Wallace hadn’t seen more interest from sponsors in the weeks that followed.
“I’m not doing this for sponsorship,” he told the Associated Press in June. “I am doing this because it’s what I believe in. If sponsors do come through, then they are showing support and they believe in the message and they line up with the same core values that I have. That’s important.”
Wallace is currently ranked 19th out of 38 drivers in the NASCAR standings, and he has three top-ten finishes.
“Richard Petty Motorsports is excited Cash App has noticed [Wallace’s] leadership, and that they have a desire to carry his message forward,” Brian Moffitt, chief executive officer for Richard Petty Motorsports, said. “Our responsibility as an organization is to raise our financial threshold so Bubba can compete on equal footing alongside his peers. This is another step in the process, and while we still have work to do, we will be successful.”