Richard Childress opens new sponsorship doors with 3Chi deal
By Bob Pockrass
FOX Sports NASCAR Writer
Richard Childress admits that he might not be the person with the most firsthand knowledge about hemp-based products.
But the 76-year-old car owner knows enough about the industry that it makes sense for him, at least currently, to have a company that sells those products sponsor his race car.
Childress announced earlier this month that 3Chi will sponsor Tyler Reddick this season. The number of races wasn’t announced, but 3Chi will sponsor Reddick for more races than any other on the No. 8 car.
At least, that’s the plan. They have a multi-year deal, but any change in federal or state regulations or policies could change the scope of the agreement.
"We had to do a lot of testing and a lot of different stuff with the product," Childress said. "I’ve just got to thank NASCAR for opening the category. ... For us to have it on the car means a whole lot."
It took more than three months for RCR to get approval. NASCAR sent a memo to teams Jan. 7 that outlined its latest guidelines for hemp-based products to sponsor a race car.
Among the guidelines:
— The product on the car must be tested and must be legal under the 2018 Farm Bill, which requires less than 0.3% delta-9 THC content. The testing must be paid for by the team and conducted at a NASCAR-approved lab. If the sponsor is a general name of the company, all base products of the company must be tested.
— Approvals for schemes and sponsorship may change at any time based on changes to federal and state laws or broadcast guidelines.
— Synthetic CBD is not allowed.
— Paint schemes must be submitted 30 days in advance, with no slogans about health benefits. They can’t have the words "CBD" or "hemp" unless in the name of the products, and they cannot feature images of the plant or images of delta-8 products.
— Teams must carry additional insurance indemnifying NASCAR for any liability from lawsuits related to the use of the product.
— Approval doesn’t waive any part of NASCAR's substance abuse policy when it comes to drug testing of drivers and crew members.
Discussions about hemp-based sponsorships have occurred between teams and companies over the past several years, as sponsorships have been difficult to come by in the emerging hemp-based industry.
Pocono had a race in 2021 titled the Pocono Organics CBD 325, marking the first sponsorship for NASCAR that specifically promoted a CBD product. On television, the CBD portion of the race name and logo were removed.
Childress is now the first team with a sponsorship from a company that is in the business of gummies and other edibles. Other teams have had talks but have not been able to get NASCAR’s approval.
The RCR sponsorship raised some eyebrows in the industry because of the company’s reliance on delta-8, a compound found in hemp but in small amounts. Some companies use an acid added to the delta-8 to create more of it in an attempt to produce products economically.
It is legal under federal guidelines but illegal in more than a dozen states where laws include delta-8 among the substances that are regulated. While advocates have pushed for it to be deemed illegal in interpretation of the Farm Bill and for new legislation to make it illegal, it remains legal at the federal level.
"The challenge for everybody is things are changing so quickly. The state laws are changing, the federal laws are changing, so we wanted to make sure we had all our bases covered," RCR president Torrey Galida said.
Galida also said he hopes there can be more product-based branding on the car in the future, but for this first team sponsorship in the category, it was best to use the company’s name.
"We went back and forth about whether we were going to take a product-specific approach or just more of a corporate approach, and we landed on the corporate approach," Galida said.
"I’m glad ... [NASCAR] took a very measured approach to it because we all want to make sure we did it the right way."
Teams are always a little desperate to find sponsorships, so with NASCAR looking to ban political sponsorships, it would make sense for NASCAR to be as flexible as possible to attract new sponsors.
Childress, when asked if NASCAR needs to be more open in other areas if it is looking to curb some types of sponsorship, said: "That’s why I know they worked so hard with us to make this happen is they want to see new companies and new fans coming in, and it opens up doors."
Reddick said the enthusiasm from the company’s executives to be part of NASCAR and find a way to promote their brand on a race car increased his own excitement about the potential of the sponsorship.
"It’s very exciting," he said. "There’s a lot for people to learn about the hemp-based industry."
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Thinking out loud
Fans see Tony Stewart Racing having Dodge manufacturer support for his foray into NHRA racing as a team owner and automatically think Stewart would want Stewart-Haas Racing to move to Dodge if Dodge opts to return to NASCAR.
Never say never, but there are plenty of reasons to think that is pretty unlikely to happen.
First, there are plenty of owners in motorsports who race different manufacturers in different series. Roger Penske has Fords in NASCAR and Chevrolets in IndyCar.
Plus, SHR doesn’t have an engine shop. It never has, so the engines would need to be built at a separate facility, likely by the manufacturer.
Edsel Ford II was tweaking Stewart on Twitter about running Dodges in NHRA, as he tweeted about a photo of Stewart that didn’t have any manufacturer logos and mentioned Dodge parent company Stellantis. He probably wouldn’t be doing that if he were worried about losing the SHR team.
Granted, Stewart and Ford don’t always see eye-to-eye. Stewart wanted to hire Kyle Larson, but Ford didn’t want to take a chance on him after his suspension in 2020. Then again, disagreements are part of the team-manufacturer relationship.
Overall, Ford has been good for Stewart, and the organization knows it — and also knows that bringing in a new manufacturer would likely result in some growing pains.
Finally, who is to say Dodge will return to NASCAR? It is ending production of its gas-powered Charger and Challenger by 2024. It will introduce hybrid and electric vehicles thereafter, and while they might keep the nameplate, it obviously won’t be the same. Dodge likely comes into the sport only if it believes NASCAR can help launch visibility for those new brands.
Social spotlight
Stat of the day
Six races had overtime finishes in 2021, and they were won by six different drivers: Bristol dirt (Joey Logano), Talladega-April (Brad Keselowski), Sonoma (Kyle Larson), Indianapolis road course (AJ Allmendinger), Daytona-August (Ryan Blaney) and Martinsville-October (Alex Bowman).
They said it
"I’m old — 47 years old. Take a guy like William Byron. He’s young. He’s a risk-taker. And I’m done taking risks. I’ve got two little girls that I love being around, and I’ve put my wife through a lot." — Dale Earnhardt Jr. on not wanting to race the Daytona 500 again
Bob Pockrass has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s. He joined FOX Sports in 2019 following stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @bobpockrass. Looking for more NASCAR content? Sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass!