NASCAR says no to marijuana company’s logo on racer’s car

NASCAR ordered driver Carl Long’s team to remove a Colorado marijuana company’s logo from the hood of his car, saying it violated sponsorship and paint scheme regulations.

The incident, which occurred at a track in Kansas City, Kansas, underscored the difficulties marijuana companies have encountered when trying to market their brands. Social media giants including Facebook and Instagram, for example, have shuttered the accounts of cannabis businesses.

Veedverks, a Denver-based medical marijuana company, had its logo painted on the hood of Carl Long’s No. 66 car, The Associated Press reported. But when NASCAR learned about the logo, Long was told to remove it Friday before he could hit the track. A NASCAR spokesman said Long failed to have the logo approved.

But, according to the Sporting News, a Veedverks spokesman said in a Facebook post that NASCAR had approved the sponsorship prior to the race. 

“They approved it, we spent the money, then they stripped our logo off the car without so much as an apology,” the spokesman wrote, according to the Sporting News.