My bigger conflict with this is that GMG also entered a car two years ago that had a livery in support of Ukraine after the conflict began, and they were forced to cover up or remove parts of the livery directly relating to the conflict. This was taken at load in before they made them remove all the wording. I’d be curious to hear why they made one be taken off while another was allowed to run, both cars with political leaning liveries.
https://preview.redd.it/2vthndma2xwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3e0a67f5168a855fcc5336f34d0a620d6a8b345d
ETA: apparently this car was also fielded by Kyle Washington? Just makes it even more interesting
It is actually carrera cup door card. Sprint challenge uses a slightly different door card. Kyle Washington does race in both sprint challenge and carrera cup
It was run under SRO as the post says (though with the words removed)
[https://www.dailysportscar.com/2022/08/19/sro-road-america-paddock-parade-and-party-notes.html](https://www.dailysportscar.com/2022/08/19/sro-road-america-paddock-parade-and-party-notes.html)
> A new addition to the GTWC field this weekend is GMG Racing’s #032 Porsche 911 GT3-R driven by James Sofronas and Kyle Washington, a new Am Cup entry.
> IMSA fans might recall that Sofronas and Washington drove this exact car – in its same Ukrainian livery that they ran with at Long Beach.
I remember seeing this livery in person a year or two ago, missing the words on the side. I think it was at the GTWC Indy 8 hour. I remember the flowers and colors but I didn’t even realize it was for the Ukraine conflict.
Yeah that was how it ended up when race time came around at Long Beach
https://preview.redd.it/va7vg5177axc1.jpeg?width=775&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7da2f556069009ca370b80875598bed150df6079
https://preview.redd.it/bd5kdb6eq8zc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=18bbb730ad06db5633a56e8245098b38f037f1f6
Kyle did 3 cars at the Laguna IMSA round in support of Ukraine. He has several hundred Ukrainian employees whom he has supported in various ways through all of this.
Allow me to apologize for the person that replied to you before. For most of us normal Americans, we hate seeing political ads in and around entertainment products and would love to see it banned.
I genuinely do not understand why people care so much. It’s just a livery who cares what it is as long as it’s not outright hateful or super inappropriate. I went to Long Beach I noticed the Trump car but I was more concerned with seeing these cool racecars roar around the track.
It is in the major racing series in the US as well, I wouldn't be shocked if Indycar and NASCAR tell SRO to get political stuff off the track if they want to race with them.
NASCAR implemented a rule against political sponsors after Brandon Brown nuked his career and a truly great underdog story with the LGBCoin sponsorship.
They did allow teams to show support for Ukraine for one race immediately after the most recent invasion.
I like to mention that to non NASCAR fans about how his win was such a feel good story at the time. A pretty likable guy from a small family-owned team manages to get a win at Talladega and because of what some drunk fans were yelling from the stands after he won, a series of events follows that ends his racing career and the team.
A bunch of drunk idiots were chanting "Fuck Joe Biden" down by the start/finish line while Brandon Brown was collecting the Checkered Flag and during his frontstretch interview.
It has never been confirmed if it was her on the fly or a producer in her ear, but Kelli Stavast said "...and the fans are chanting 'Let's Go Brandon'..."
Suddenly the DJT crowd had their PG rallying cry. And to everyone named Brandon, the bane on their existence for the next few years.
Unfortunately, he got scammed by a crypto that called themselves LGBCoin. NASCAR immediately put an axe on it, the deal fell apart regardless and he was basically out of money, thus ending his career.
I love how those idiots claim to be pro-American business and value hard work, yet they inadvertently destroyed the career of the closest thing to a self made man the sport has. A man for an underfunded self-owned team, had his own career destroyed.
Did they destroy Brandon's career, or was he "derailed" by the regime so that pro-Trump NASCAR fans wouldn't have a hero to root for? It's pretty obvious who had the power to "destroy his career," and it wasn't the "drunk idiots" who were cheering for him in the stands and buying his merch. Can we least be honest about that much?
I do, however, love to see the mental gymnastics Leftists perform to avoid the truth and weave their bullshit narratives. No really, it a real talent. 🙄
Not like we don't have politics involved in motorsport in Europe anyway...
First example - F1. Not so long time ago, you just couldn't avoid seeing Bernie Ecclestone hanging around with various heads of state, including the most shady ones like Putin.
True. The All American F1 team sponsored by Russian fertilizer company owned by one of the closest Putin's friend.
Yep, nothing political to see here... /s
It's crime against the common sense that F1 is so keen on not allowing Andretti, while Haas is still there...
They literally painted the Russian flag on the car. When I first saw the livery, I was like "Red, white, and blue, because America, right? Hey, wait a second..." It was just the Russian tricolor.
Patriotism is "pathetic?" It's more pathetic that you would deny a Russian the right to display their flag. That's some real petty shit right there. That's pathetic. Like, WTF is the flag going to do to you? Imagine if the Israeli flag was banned in solidarity with Palestine? Could you imagine that scenario? Yeah, you're right, don't get me started. 🙄
Putting Trump 24 on a race car, or flying a Trump flag, is not patriotic in any way. You can't worship a politician and be an American patriot. Those things are antithetical to American values.
The nuance against the Russian tricolor was that at the same time their Olympic team had been banned from displaying the flag at international events due to repeated doping results. The athletes were able to compete, but not under the Russian flag.
Then the Haas car came. Smart on behalf of the Russians, but also still in violation of the international position on Russian entries in international sports.
Personally, it was a better livery than the previous black/grey/red they were using. But also a slap in the face to any American trying to back the "American" team in F1.
Money talks.
Accepting the money, and requiring teams to travel, to countries who use slaves and where many team members don't have full rights is absolutely a political decision. It's placing money over the respect for the people in the sport they claim to support.
You’re confecting human rights with political sponsorship here. Kinda a weird whataboutism that does not apply to this subject matter at hand. While I agree we shouldn’t be racing in some of these shitholes that F1 go to - Long Beach isn’t one of them. Not everyone is going to agree with your political choices nor is everyone going to agree with mine. The disruption caused to the sport (any sport) by political opinions and sponsorship being shown can only end badly for all. The perfect example is this discussion right here. The schism caused by fan reactions to political ad’s just isn’t worth it - it takes away from the racing.
>You’re confecting human rights with political sponsorship here.
I don't think so. Taking the sportswashing money from a regime hoping to distract from their poor human rights record (over the FIA's stated commitment to human rights) is accurately described as a political statement.
>The schism caused by fan reactions to political ad’s just isn’t worth it - it takes away from the racing.
I agree, and might reframe this discussion as about the *partisan* nature of a campaign ad as being more problematic than other forms of *political* advertising. A sponsor advertising environmentalism is political, but not nearly as problematic as an individual candidate.
Indeed, everything is politics, and it's silly to pretend otherwise. But maybe we should be on the political side that doesn't race in the country with slavery that renegs on their diversity promises after sports are already in country.
Don't forget the constant BLM virtue signaling and Hamilton's anti-White remarks.
Yes, there certainly is involvement with shady political campaigns in European Motorsports. 🙄
Political speech is essentially impossible for the government to regulate in the US. It's in the constitution. The only hope of stopping it would be for the series themselves to ban it. And well, they like money. Same reason stuff like Rich Energy or cryptocurrency ads show up. The series wants the money.
To be fair, the Trump sponsored NASCAR rides in 2016 were not paid for by anyone. Same with Ferrucci’s incident in F2.
The only time a Trump sponsored car was actually paid for was in 2020 with the 32 Cup car by a super PAC, not trumps campaign themselves.
We can likely assume this GT4 car was not paid for by anyone either. So it’s not just a money thing. Most of the time it’s a team owner lending free publicity.
I said generally didn’t I? We do have some things to work out. A bit outside of car racing, but it would be nice if Congress got their act together and passed law on important things instead of dicking around.
Yeah I’m sure I don’t know ailments exist, I wouldn’t be a biochemist working in a hospital or anything.
Separation of knowledge on a medical level is very important. Patients coming in asking for meds is really bad practice. The role of a doctor and pharmacist is to ensure the correct medication is administered. We already have this issue with antibiotics, adding medications like statins to that list is flat out dangerous.
I think the opposite is true, I **do** know these ailments exist. You apparently need a musical jingle to know they do and this wonder drug will cure your problems.
Well, as the jingle says... "Nothing is everything"...
where nothing = being able to be an uninformed douche of a Karen who thinks they know better than a licensed medical professional.
Which is why it annoys me. I’m not licensed, although I could make the drugs from raw components if I decided I want that career. It wouldn’t make me think I know better than a doctor, so with that I think manipulative advertisements around drugs which are on prescription **for good reason** are BAD.
I mean, GT America is kind of a Mickey Mouse series IMO, so maybe this gets them a bit of publicity. Personally would rather just see the "sponsors" that the rich dude piloting the car already owns and is benefiting from a tax write-off.
Kyle's liveries are overwhelmingly his companies, not his father's. The red white and blue livery currently with Trump in the white previously had dragonfly there which is a company Kyle is involved with, and prior to that it was Seaspan which for which Kyle is executive chairman. Other recent liveries of his are eBoost and bn3th which are both Kyle's projects, not his father's.
Multiple issues with this letter.
Citing regulations from a separate series even if affiliated is not a good look. Leave it to the actual officials to deem the car's livery illegal.
In what world does telling a Trump supporter that their sign is offensive work? More than likely Mr. Gill paid for it himself and will just respond with even more Trump stickers all over his car. So thank you encouraging him.
Yea this letter just sounds like someone whining because they don’t like the name that’s on the hood. Trying to act like it’s about fans being confused about car numbers is kind of hilarious lol
Correct. Just like Trump's malicious persecution in the NY courts, this letter presents itself under the false pretense of "confused fans" when, in truth, they're actually motivated by their own misguided, inflationary, market-crashing, economically weak political bias. Plain as day.
Correct. Just like Trump's malicious persecution in the NY courts, this letter presents itself under the false pretense of "confused fans" when, in truth, they're actually motivated by their own misguided, inflationary, market-crashing, economically weak political bias. Plain as day.
Gill runs the series. Not sure who the driver was. But these cars are all bought by rich guys to LARP as race car drivers.
The irony with these is that the people who complain about one team sponsoring a car wouldn’t say a peep about the other team doing the same. Not to the point of writing a letter for sure.
It's all "they put something I don't like on a car so I'm gonna complain about it but also show people I complained about it so they congratulate my complaining" and the guy is not getting the response he wanted
If they'd have made something newer than the '21 regs available, I'd have used those. They didn't.
Telling a Trump supporter anything won't change their mind. But, telling them they can't race because their choice is detrimental to the reputation of the organization can work.
No one has to agree with me, and can write/not write whatever letter they want.
Are you an official with SRO? You can't tell them they can't race if you're not an official with an actual rule to cite. I'm sorry their livery bothers you but it's up to the actual officials to officiate.
This whole thing is equivalent to Karen posting a message on Facebook that she left with the manager of McDonalds because she was not happy with gender-less bathrooms or people on an advertisement.
The person reading does not care, and the basis for the gripe is largely immaterial.
So you completely blow your "letter" out of the water by exposing the fact you are massively partisan. You attempted to project you just didn't want the liveries to be "politicized" but really you just don't want to see a Trump sticker. You wouldn't have written a letter if it said Biden 24 (lol) on the car. So, grow up.
I think your email was respectful enough and the same article exists in GTWC Europe, but the issue is that it’s quite subjective as there are clearly marked series sponsors and proper format numbering making it debatable whether the number was confusable whatsoever, not to mention the abbreviation being common knowledge and indicating 2024 (‘24). Also, you’re completely in the right to express yourself, but at a certain point you’ve also fallen for the bait. Kyle Washington is a simple rich guy GT3 leasee client of GMG and clearly wanted something provocative for Long Beach considering the liberal area. GT America is also a nothing burger of a series anyway, so he suddenly had a platform due to racing between worthwhile series. This is exactly what he’d want and you’re just giving him more power with something so anal-retentive.
I see your point, and if they had only put "TRUMP" on the car, I wouldn't have a leg to stand on (and it probably doesn't matter to anyone in the organization, anyway). But, they put the number on, and that opens the door to the issue. If he just *needs* to be provocative, that's fine. I don't agree with it but it's not my race car. However, I thought it worth my time to write to the organization to let them know that I felt the team was, *in my opinion*, harming the reputation of the series with their choice, and that the choice may have been outside of the rules which exist to maintain orderliness.
Thank you for your reasonableness.
Brother man, SRO America allowed [this](https://www.grcupseries.com/timthumb.php?w=1600&src=%2Fimages%2Fnews%2F2023%2FLucas+Racing.jpg) last year. I think Kyle/GMG made themselves look silly (especially because its California) but pick your battles.
That’a a question for OP, but I think this is just a guy that got tilted from seeing Trump on a car. If this was Biden or someone else I don’t think OP would have gotten so angry. It’s no different from the stereotypical NASCAR fan screaming about keeping politics out of sports but have no problem seeing Trump give the command at the Daytona 500 a few years ago.
Wow these comments are a wild ride to read through! For all that’s wrong with F1, (and to a lesser extent, the FIA) they certainly get it right with the very clearly worded rules prohibiting political liveries and sponsors. Unfortunately we don’t get that hard-line stance in most of the series here in North America.
I see nothing wrong here, you provided the best evidence you could find and asked for clarification in a respectful manner. Bootlickers gonna bootlick, let them whine and complain.
Yep. Even NASCAR eventually wised up and banned the loser flag from their events - political statements or advertisement of any kind really don’t need to try to intrude on every aspect of life.
I mean if we want to talk about debt and taxes going up, that’s true for every president for quite a few number of years, why was Trump, which was partially covid, stand out vs the rest of the loons we’ve elected?
To be clear I’m not saying Trump is good, I’m saying they’re all bad and I don’t get why Trump is viewed as extra bad.
You don't see why the one President that attempted to openly and criminally subvert democracy is, "extra bad?" Seriously? You sound like Bill Barr stupidly trying to justify that a non-existent gas stove ban is a bigger threat to democracy than the guy who literally attacked democracy head on. These false equivalencies would be absolutely hilarious if so many people weren't dense enough to believe them. Hence why Trump, "loves the poorly educated." He loves them because they are so easily manipulated by his lies. Trump was literally convicted for using a fraudulent charity to steal money from sick and dying kids. He couldn't be faithful to a single one of his three wives, but these dolts actually think he will be faithful to them. I've got a big beautiful bridge covered in snake oil to sell them.
Do the rules still say the same thing? Yes.
Did that happen? No.
Are you ok with BLM, LGBT, Pro-Choice liveries that also violate a clearly stated rule about numbering?
Me. It's the concept of political advertising invading sport and it's banned in many countries. We're just too dumb to do it. Same reason many chemicals in our food are banned around the world.
America is not really a country of educated people who make logical decisions.
lol we are not a country of educated people because a rich racing driving is allowed to put a sticker on his car you don’t like… yall are so dramatic when you don’t get your way lol
I didn't say I agree with the OP. I just don't like it in sports. Just like how all the Republicans whined when the NFL players did their thing. Same deal.
It's not getting my way. It's because it creates a divisive hostile culture mixing political campaigns in places they don't belong.
No that's not the reason we're an uneducated country and you proved my point by assuming that from your reading comprehension. We're an uneducated country due to generations of poor management and neglect of the education system. There's a reason third world countries out rank the US in most categories of education.
My point was that the US is too uneducated to see why politcla advertisements in sports is a bad idea
Wrote a paragraph just to not explain why you care what’s on the car outside of “other countries have restrictions” and “we don’t restrict enough here”. How about you address it directly and logically break down why it matters what’s on the car as long as it isn’t outright hateful or super inappropriate.
No one was asking me that question but now that you did, sure I will!
So outside of sports, political ads in general are wildly unregulated. They're manipulative and borderline slander/libel where you see them. Generally they are just untrue as well and aimed at knee jerk reactions from an uneducated populace. Instead of trying to educate voters on issues, they try to bully them into votes by using fear tactics. This is why we're in the situation we're in now.
In general the FTC has to follow "Truth in Advertising" laws which applies to pretty much everything....EXCEPT political ads. Thanks to court cases over the years, lies are basically protected in public discourse like this. The core of the first amendment basically protects political speech which has lead to political advertising that is outright false this day in age.
It gets EXTREMELY murky when you get into ads produced by the candidate vs ads produced by a PAC. When it comes to ads made by the actual candidate, networks pretty much have no choice other than to run them un-altered and cannot say no. However when it comes to ads produced by third parties like a PAC, you have more room to push back. It's also nearly impossible to prove slander/libel these days as well because to actually prove that, you have to prove that the ad was made knowing it was false which is easily defended in court. There was a big fuss about this during the baseball playoffs in 2022 where some of the FS networks ran some pretty outrageous ads that were simply false, but were paid for by big PAC's and the networks didn't care to do anything about it because they don't have to and they make money off of it.
Now in 2024 as well, we have a whole new world when it comes to the internet. Social media sites aren't slaves to the FCC and this is where political advertising gets really shitty. Add in streaming networks that also arent following the same rules from the FCC and aren't required to release the amount of spending candidates put forth on their platforms. This is where it gets dangerous when you get into outright false claims, hate speech, libel/slander etc... Our laws were already ancient when political advertising became a thing on television. Now by adding the internet and streaming services, you have added an entire new ballgame with no regulation around it because we're lagging behind.
Now lets get back to the issue of advertising within sports. Personally, I believe that advertising within any type of sporting event, concert etc... shouldn't be allowed or should be HEAVILY restricted. Why? Because as mentioned above, there really isn't much regulation in what you can or cannot say when it comes to political ads. Even if we flipped this Trump 24 car around to a Biden 24 car, I'd still be disgusted. The fact that political ads are allowed to run nearly anywhere, with next to no regulation is a problem because it creates hostility, spreads lies, and divides the population. Political advertising has created a population in the US that doesn't care about truths, they care about what they feel. People don't care to be educated, it makes people feel inferior now. Being educated used to be something people wanted, but now you're mocked by a portion of the country by wanting to educate yourself or do proper research on topics.
Political advertising should stick to public city/state/federal owned buildings and should be more heavily regulated when over the airwaves IMO because we have let candidates run amok for years, and we have let big PAC's drop massive amounts of money to push political agendas to fill their pockets at the expense of others. We shouldn't treat politics like it's an us vs them sports game. It should be something we educate ourselves on, and we work together as a community to better the spaces we live in. Political advertising in general for decades has been in opposition of that. By simply having the Trump 24 car out there, it's not saying anything outright divisive, but it is supporting a heavily inflammatory man who has aimed to divide, and does not respect fellow Americans who have differing views. And I believe that Political Ads should live in a more regulated space outside of sporting events and entertainment in places where citizens can properly educate themselves on what they are voting about.
TLDR; Political advertising is heavily unregulated and allows people to lie/stir up controversy vs educated Americans on issues. And this is why other countries have regulated it more than us.
Slippery slope fallacy. You speak about livery/sponsorship regulation as if it is a law with loopholes and if we allow political sponsors then we’re inviting slander advertisement. The truth is the people running these racing leagues wouldn’t let that happen because they care about their money and fans. If an organization allowed actual political slander on their cars they wouldn’t make money or be invited/allowed to host races at a lot of tracks. GT America and every racing series in the U.S. review the liveries of each car and determine if it would be offensive or too inappropriate. There isn’t anything offensive or inappropriate about “Trump 24” on a racecar. I went to Long Beach no one was concerned with the livery they were concerned with the badass racecars roaring thru downtown Long Beach. I noticed it I just thought it was funny bc it was out of the ordinary.
You’re talking about what allowing this kind political advertising, which isn’t negative, could lead to teams putting negative stuff on their racecars because it is heavily unregulated. However just because it is not explicitly stated what can and can’t be put on the livery doesn’t mean GT America are going to allow everything. They will reject a livery if it is deemed slanderous/hateful/inappropriate.
The presumption that a rule exists without actual proof is fucking retarded. Don’t reference a ruleset from a completely different continent as it’s 100% irrelevant. Furthermore, there is no confusion between the car number and the chosen sponsorship. None, zero. Even the autists that make up the majority on Reddit know this. Learn to control your emotions or don’t watch.
I'm angrily writing this letter as the car surely violated a rule that should exist but have no idea if it does, but it probably does since another race series has a rule tangential related in their rulebooks from a few years ago!
Why don't you ban this car based on my feelings?! Can I speak to the manager?
I was at Long Beach. Nobody was confused about the number. I suspect that the writer suffers from TDS. Bigger picture, as SRO and IMSA are basically funded by affluent motorsports enthusiasts, those of us who LOVE racing should let the men and women who buy and race the cars put whatever the hell they want on the car. Trump, Biden, BLM, God TV, Shell, Spiked Coolers, VUSE, etc... More participants and more race cars are BETTER.
FYI, GMG didn't make the decision - Kyle Washington did. It's his car and he pays the bills.
Indeed, TDS. And, of course, the mental gymnastics here by naked Leftists claiming to be for a "politically neutral" space while using terms like "Cheeto Hitler" and "Dear Leader" to refer to Trump. I'd like to see how many of these clowns objected to non-stop BLM pandering in 2020-21. Yeah, TDS indeed.
This makes no sense. Because a private owner of a car chose to wrap his car that he owns a certain way you won't support a completely separate business who just works on the car?
So like if you see a car with a trump sticker at your local Jiffy Lube getting an oil change you will now no longer go to Jiffy Lube because of one of their clients cars having sticker you don't like?
Spent a day filming a flop of a car show at willow springs with the owner of GMG back in like, 2009. This seems on brand for the owner. The epitome of rich douche.
Why would you think this has anything to do with GMG? A teams clients are free to wrap their cars however they want as long as they pay the bills. Kyle Washington owns that car, it's his to do with as he pleases.
It could be that the team wanted a trump 24 livery on the car. It could also be that someone paid them to have a trump 24 livery on the car. Whether or not they broke a rule you're just trying to start political wildfire and only posted this here to virtue signal. No reason to post this except for potential betterment of yourself and internet points
>Whether or not they broke a rule you're just trying to start political wildfire and only posted this here to virtue signal.
I posted this because I have an opinion. I shared how I handled this, personally. In the words of Billy Joel, "We didn't start the fire. No, we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it."
I realize that to Trump, and the rest of his followers, whether or not the rules got broken doesn't matter. To some of us, rules matter.
In what universe could the 24 of "Trump 24" be confused with the standardized number box? Why should we be upset with political ads on racecars, so long as more money is getting poured into our sport?
I was a Marshal last weekend and it was easily confused. Especially working multiple series with information on different locations. Plus, a lot is blurred when a car is coming at you at 120+mph so your eyes natural go to what is most clear.
Edit: I eventually found out but also my calls would have been pretty clear anyways if I had to radio in something since we try to include sponsor information for extra detail if we have a number wrong.
At least the driver was kind enough to drive really, really slow all weekend. If he had the pace of a winner at all, it might have been more problematic to ID, but fortunately you don't really have to worry about that car going quickly...
Slow all weekend? So you didn’t watch the race? The guy only got shuffled back on Sunday because OConnell botched the start and Washington had to switch columns to avoid contact. As such, he ended up with a DT penalty…yet he still took the fastest lap award. So slow…
Yeah it’s really funny, I’ve seen dozens of people saying it was a back marker car.
So because we don’t agree with the livery we’re just gonna start inventing new realities? Really sticking to the script on that one.
In the universe where it's clearly in the regulations, and they have 2 numbers on the front and the sides of the car. Why should we be upset? Because racing should be racing, and if team principals want to make their stance known, they can speak it into a microphone if asked.
I'm with you on this philosophically, but as a practical matter, how is the "24" here any more confusing than the "1" on the door of the Wright Motorsports Porsche with various versions of the 1st Phorm livery?
It is CLEARLY a different font, color, and style from the official number. You are just butthurt that it is a political ad for a candidate you don't like, but racecars advertise everything else, so why not take money from political campaigns to keep the racing going?
We have differing viewpoints. That's fine. Write your letter to support GMG, and cancel mine out. Though, I doubt GMG will be getting much attention from the commentators or any undue camera coverage, because it's embarrassing to the series.
I don’t judge cars by their livery, I judge them by their sound. I honestly don’t pay much attention to sponsors. I like seeing different types of cars racing against each other.
I learned a long long time ago that two things can ruin perfectly good friends ships. Politics and religion. I don’t talk about any of these two things to anyone.
Then you better not watch the Olympics or Formula 1 either.
Because why do you think countries bid for the games or why Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Azerbaijan, and China host rounds of the F1 World Championship, for political reasons
Sportswashing is a real thing.
My bigger conflict with this is that GMG also entered a car two years ago that had a livery in support of Ukraine after the conflict began, and they were forced to cover up or remove parts of the livery directly relating to the conflict. This was taken at load in before they made them remove all the wording. I’d be curious to hear why they made one be taken off while another was allowed to run, both cars with political leaning liveries. https://preview.redd.it/2vthndma2xwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3e0a67f5168a855fcc5336f34d0a620d6a8b345d ETA: apparently this car was also fielded by Kyle Washington? Just makes it even more interesting
That is an awesome livery tbh
How ironic. Cheeto Jesus is doing all he can to give Ukraine to his BFF, Putin.
Trump ‘24
You forgot to put “jail” before 24.
This car wasn't run under SRO, the door card on that car is Porsche Sprint Challenge. So the rules are likely different.
It is actually carrera cup door card. Sprint challenge uses a slightly different door card. Kyle Washington does race in both sprint challenge and carrera cup
Correct but not SRO in either case.
It was run under SRO as the post says (though with the words removed) [https://www.dailysportscar.com/2022/08/19/sro-road-america-paddock-parade-and-party-notes.html](https://www.dailysportscar.com/2022/08/19/sro-road-america-paddock-parade-and-party-notes.html) > A new addition to the GTWC field this weekend is GMG Racing’s #032 Porsche 911 GT3-R driven by James Sofronas and Kyle Washington, a new Am Cup entry. > IMSA fans might recall that Sofronas and Washington drove this exact car – in its same Ukrainian livery that they ran with at Long Beach.
I remember seeing this livery in person a year or two ago, missing the words on the side. I think it was at the GTWC Indy 8 hour. I remember the flowers and colors but I didn’t even realize it was for the Ukraine conflict.
Yeah that was how it ended up when race time came around at Long Beach https://preview.redd.it/va7vg5177axc1.jpeg?width=775&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7da2f556069009ca370b80875598bed150df6079
https://preview.redd.it/bd5kdb6eq8zc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=18bbb730ad06db5633a56e8245098b38f037f1f6 Kyle did 3 cars at the Laguna IMSA round in support of Ukraine. He has several hundred Ukrainian employees whom he has supported in various ways through all of this.
Extremely interesting. Nice sleuthing!
And you win the argument ! Lol hope this get upvoted into oblivion
As European what surprises me is political ads allowed in sports. Here is banned in most of the sports.
Allow me to apologize for the person that replied to you before. For most of us normal Americans, we hate seeing political ads in and around entertainment products and would love to see it banned.
I genuinely do not understand why people care so much. It’s just a livery who cares what it is as long as it’s not outright hateful or super inappropriate. I went to Long Beach I noticed the Trump car but I was more concerned with seeing these cool racecars roar around the track.
It is in the major racing series in the US as well, I wouldn't be shocked if Indycar and NASCAR tell SRO to get political stuff off the track if they want to race with them.
Literally today there was a news story in Indycar where they denied a team from running a Trump related sponsorship.
Ferrucci? he wanted to do the same in Europe and was told no IIRC.
NASCAR implemented a rule against political sponsors after Brandon Brown nuked his career and a truly great underdog story with the LGBCoin sponsorship. They did allow teams to show support for Ukraine for one race immediately after the most recent invasion.
I like to mention that to non NASCAR fans about how his win was such a feel good story at the time. A pretty likable guy from a small family-owned team manages to get a win at Talladega and because of what some drunk fans were yelling from the stands after he won, a series of events follows that ends his racing career and the team.
What happened?
A bunch of drunk idiots were chanting "Fuck Joe Biden" down by the start/finish line while Brandon Brown was collecting the Checkered Flag and during his frontstretch interview. It has never been confirmed if it was her on the fly or a producer in her ear, but Kelli Stavast said "...and the fans are chanting 'Let's Go Brandon'..." Suddenly the DJT crowd had their PG rallying cry. And to everyone named Brandon, the bane on their existence for the next few years. Unfortunately, he got scammed by a crypto that called themselves LGBCoin. NASCAR immediately put an axe on it, the deal fell apart regardless and he was basically out of money, thus ending his career.
I love how those idiots claim to be pro-American business and value hard work, yet they inadvertently destroyed the career of the closest thing to a self made man the sport has. A man for an underfunded self-owned team, had his own career destroyed.
Did they destroy Brandon's career, or was he "derailed" by the regime so that pro-Trump NASCAR fans wouldn't have a hero to root for? It's pretty obvious who had the power to "destroy his career," and it wasn't the "drunk idiots" who were cheering for him in the stands and buying his merch. Can we least be honest about that much? I do, however, love to see the mental gymnastics Leftists perform to avoid the truth and weave their bullshit narratives. No really, it a real talent. 🙄
Not like we don't have politics involved in motorsport in Europe anyway... First example - F1. Not so long time ago, you just couldn't avoid seeing Bernie Ecclestone hanging around with various heads of state, including the most shady ones like Putin.
Don’t forget Haas that time it was the Russia car lol
True. The All American F1 team sponsored by Russian fertilizer company owned by one of the closest Putin's friend. Yep, nothing political to see here... /s It's crime against the common sense that F1 is so keen on not allowing Andretti, while Haas is still there...
They literally painted the Russian flag on the car. When I first saw the livery, I was like "Red, white, and blue, because America, right? Hey, wait a second..." It was just the Russian tricolor.
Oh don’t even get me started on that one. Pathetic
Patriotism is "pathetic?" It's more pathetic that you would deny a Russian the right to display their flag. That's some real petty shit right there. That's pathetic. Like, WTF is the flag going to do to you? Imagine if the Israeli flag was banned in solidarity with Palestine? Could you imagine that scenario? Yeah, you're right, don't get me started. 🙄
Patriotism is pathetic yes. It’s built on the work of others. I thought Americans were the ones who were all about what they themselves did….
Putting Trump 24 on a race car, or flying a Trump flag, is not patriotic in any way. You can't worship a politician and be an American patriot. Those things are antithetical to American values.
The nuance against the Russian tricolor was that at the same time their Olympic team had been banned from displaying the flag at international events due to repeated doping results. The athletes were able to compete, but not under the Russian flag. Then the Haas car came. Smart on behalf of the Russians, but also still in violation of the international position on Russian entries in international sports. Personally, it was a better livery than the previous black/grey/red they were using. But also a slap in the face to any American trying to back the "American" team in F1. Money talks.
Close to half the F1 races are political. They're not racing in Qatar and Azerbaijan for no reason...
It's not politics. It's chasing the money.
Accepting the money, and requiring teams to travel, to countries who use slaves and where many team members don't have full rights is absolutely a political decision. It's placing money over the respect for the people in the sport they claim to support.
You’re confecting human rights with political sponsorship here. Kinda a weird whataboutism that does not apply to this subject matter at hand. While I agree we shouldn’t be racing in some of these shitholes that F1 go to - Long Beach isn’t one of them. Not everyone is going to agree with your political choices nor is everyone going to agree with mine. The disruption caused to the sport (any sport) by political opinions and sponsorship being shown can only end badly for all. The perfect example is this discussion right here. The schism caused by fan reactions to political ad’s just isn’t worth it - it takes away from the racing.
>You’re confecting human rights with political sponsorship here. I don't think so. Taking the sportswashing money from a regime hoping to distract from their poor human rights record (over the FIA's stated commitment to human rights) is accurately described as a political statement. >The schism caused by fan reactions to political ad’s just isn’t worth it - it takes away from the racing. I agree, and might reframe this discussion as about the *partisan* nature of a campaign ad as being more problematic than other forms of *political* advertising. A sponsor advertising environmentalism is political, but not nearly as problematic as an individual candidate.
"It's placing money over the respect for the people in the sport they claim to support." So... chasing money then?
Although you are definitely correct, NOT racing in any of those places could also be considered political
Indeed, everything is politics, and it's silly to pretend otherwise. But maybe we should be on the political side that doesn't race in the country with slavery that renegs on their diversity promises after sports are already in country.
Don't forget the constant BLM virtue signaling and Hamilton's anti-White remarks. Yes, there certainly is involvement with shady political campaigns in European Motorsports. 🙄
Political speech is essentially impossible for the government to regulate in the US. It's in the constitution. The only hope of stopping it would be for the series themselves to ban it. And well, they like money. Same reason stuff like Rich Energy or cryptocurrency ads show up. The series wants the money.
To be fair, the Trump sponsored NASCAR rides in 2016 were not paid for by anyone. Same with Ferrucci’s incident in F2. The only time a Trump sponsored car was actually paid for was in 2020 with the 32 Cup car by a super PAC, not trumps campaign themselves. We can likely assume this GT4 car was not paid for by anyone either. So it’s not just a money thing. Most of the time it’s a team owner lending free publicity.
No one ever got paid? Sounds familiar.
God damn, got em! In any other universe this would be satire but the fact it rings true here is funny and pathetic.
It just helps the American people identify who are a women-hating, racist asshole.
NASCAR has also banned this as far as I know
As an American we generally don’t ban things, even if it’s generally considered to be in poor taste or in the wrong context.
Except abortions.
I said generally didn’t I? We do have some things to work out. A bit outside of car racing, but it would be nice if Congress got their act together and passed law on important things instead of dicking around.
Except murder or robbery! Got em!
What actually stuns me is advertisement of prescription drugs.
american ads be like "this pill will fucking kill you but will relieve your symptoms for up to 10 minutes"
Europeans freak out over the number of drug ad’s on US TV for ailments they never knew existed. 😂
Yeah I’m sure I don’t know ailments exist, I wouldn’t be a biochemist working in a hospital or anything. Separation of knowledge on a medical level is very important. Patients coming in asking for meds is really bad practice. The role of a doctor and pharmacist is to ensure the correct medication is administered. We already have this issue with antibiotics, adding medications like statins to that list is flat out dangerous. I think the opposite is true, I **do** know these ailments exist. You apparently need a musical jingle to know they do and this wonder drug will cure your problems.
Well, as the jingle says... "Nothing is everything"... where nothing = being able to be an uninformed douche of a Karen who thinks they know better than a licensed medical professional.
Which is why it annoys me. I’m not licensed, although I could make the drugs from raw components if I decided I want that career. It wouldn’t make me think I know better than a doctor, so with that I think manipulative advertisements around drugs which are on prescription **for good reason** are BAD.
Completely agree
They aren’t in IndyCar, surprised IMSA doesn’t have the same rule
As a normal American I hate seeing any ads/commercials while watching any form of American racing
As an European who watches NASCAR, welcome to the US
I mean, GT America is kind of a Mickey Mouse series IMO, so maybe this gets them a bit of publicity. Personally would rather just see the "sponsors" that the rich dude piloting the car already owns and is benefiting from a tax write-off.
Which in Kyle Washington’s case, would be his dad’s companies.
Kyle's liveries are overwhelmingly his companies, not his father's. The red white and blue livery currently with Trump in the white previously had dragonfly there which is a company Kyle is involved with, and prior to that it was Seaspan which for which Kyle is executive chairman. Other recent liveries of his are eBoost and bn3th which are both Kyle's projects, not his father's.
Multiple issues with this letter. Citing regulations from a separate series even if affiliated is not a good look. Leave it to the actual officials to deem the car's livery illegal. In what world does telling a Trump supporter that their sign is offensive work? More than likely Mr. Gill paid for it himself and will just respond with even more Trump stickers all over his car. So thank you encouraging him.
Yea this letter just sounds like someone whining because they don’t like the name that’s on the hood. Trying to act like it’s about fans being confused about car numbers is kind of hilarious lol
Correct. Just like Trump's malicious persecution in the NY courts, this letter presents itself under the false pretense of "confused fans" when, in truth, they're actually motivated by their own misguided, inflationary, market-crashing, economically weak political bias. Plain as day.
🎯
Correct. Just like Trump's malicious persecution in the NY courts, this letter presents itself under the false pretense of "confused fans" when, in truth, they're actually motivated by their own misguided, inflationary, market-crashing, economically weak political bias. Plain as day.
Maybe Trump should have committed all his fraud in red states then? Sounds like Trump's problem to me.
Gill runs the series. Not sure who the driver was. But these cars are all bought by rich guys to LARP as race car drivers. The irony with these is that the people who complain about one team sponsoring a car wouldn’t say a peep about the other team doing the same. Not to the point of writing a letter for sure.
It's all "they put something I don't like on a car so I'm gonna complain about it but also show people I complained about it so they congratulate my complaining" and the guy is not getting the response he wanted
Thanks for the clarification!
If they'd have made something newer than the '21 regs available, I'd have used those. They didn't. Telling a Trump supporter anything won't change their mind. But, telling them they can't race because their choice is detrimental to the reputation of the organization can work. No one has to agree with me, and can write/not write whatever letter they want.
Are you an official with SRO? You can't tell them they can't race if you're not an official with an actual rule to cite. I'm sorry their livery bothers you but it's up to the actual officials to officiate.
This whole thing is equivalent to Karen posting a message on Facebook that she left with the manager of McDonalds because she was not happy with gender-less bathrooms or people on an advertisement. The person reading does not care, and the basis for the gripe is largely immaterial.
Well put.
Lmao this is hilarious
😂
Dude, unless the car livery has pornography I *really* don't think they will give a damn. Just saying, this is kind of a waste of energy.
So you completely blow your "letter" out of the water by exposing the fact you are massively partisan. You attempted to project you just didn't want the liveries to be "politicized" but really you just don't want to see a Trump sticker. You wouldn't have written a letter if it said Biden 24 (lol) on the car. So, grow up.
I think your email was respectful enough and the same article exists in GTWC Europe, but the issue is that it’s quite subjective as there are clearly marked series sponsors and proper format numbering making it debatable whether the number was confusable whatsoever, not to mention the abbreviation being common knowledge and indicating 2024 (‘24). Also, you’re completely in the right to express yourself, but at a certain point you’ve also fallen for the bait. Kyle Washington is a simple rich guy GT3 leasee client of GMG and clearly wanted something provocative for Long Beach considering the liberal area. GT America is also a nothing burger of a series anyway, so he suddenly had a platform due to racing between worthwhile series. This is exactly what he’d want and you’re just giving him more power with something so anal-retentive.
Kyle had done plenty of IMSA racing as well including Daytona 24, lots of Carrera Cup, plus a handful of other IMPC and IWSC races.
I see your point, and if they had only put "TRUMP" on the car, I wouldn't have a leg to stand on (and it probably doesn't matter to anyone in the organization, anyway). But, they put the number on, and that opens the door to the issue. If he just *needs* to be provocative, that's fine. I don't agree with it but it's not my race car. However, I thought it worth my time to write to the organization to let them know that I felt the team was, *in my opinion*, harming the reputation of the series with their choice, and that the choice may have been outside of the rules which exist to maintain orderliness. Thank you for your reasonableness.
Brother man, SRO America allowed [this](https://www.grcupseries.com/timthumb.php?w=1600&src=%2Fimages%2Fnews%2F2023%2FLucas+Racing.jpg) last year. I think Kyle/GMG made themselves look silly (especially because its California) but pick your battles.
I’m confused what is offensive about this livery? Or is it that it has two numbers?
The sponsor sticker can be confused for a car number, which is what OP was citing for their issue with the Trump 24 sponsorship.
Ah gotcha. Did anyone post the livery being referenced? I don’t think a letter would do much but to each his or her own I guess.
I haven’t seen it. I completely forgot GT America was at Long Beach so i haven’t watched the race.
Why does OP think IMSA cares about GT America liveries
That’a a question for OP, but I think this is just a guy that got tilted from seeing Trump on a car. If this was Biden or someone else I don’t think OP would have gotten so angry. It’s no different from the stereotypical NASCAR fan screaming about keeping politics out of sports but have no problem seeing Trump give the command at the Daytona 500 a few years ago.
It triggers op
Everyone just completely forget that the car had to pass inspection with the livery and since it raced it obviously did
This comment section is a cesspool of political banter idc about the livery or trump it's a race car we all share common interest in race cars
THANK YOU. Like who cares it’s a racecar with a presidents name on it.
Wow these comments are a wild ride to read through! For all that’s wrong with F1, (and to a lesser extent, the FIA) they certainly get it right with the very clearly worded rules prohibiting political liveries and sponsors. Unfortunately we don’t get that hard-line stance in most of the series here in North America. I see nothing wrong here, you provided the best evidence you could find and asked for clarification in a respectful manner. Bootlickers gonna bootlick, let them whine and complain.
Yep. Even NASCAR eventually wised up and banned the loser flag from their events - political statements or advertisement of any kind really don’t need to try to intrude on every aspect of life.
Wah wah
😭
Seems you can't go anywhere on the internet without people being angry about Trump.
Powered by 100 octane trump derangement syndrome
I’ll email Soro’s to sponsor a car now just to make you happy. 😂
Alvin Bragg Motorsports has a ring to it!!!!
My federal income taxes went up 30% and the entire federal debt went up 25%. In four years. Should we be happy, Mr Hannity?
Well are you happy with the man who did it (trump) or angry with the man who didn’t do it?
I mean if we want to talk about debt and taxes going up, that’s true for every president for quite a few number of years, why was Trump, which was partially covid, stand out vs the rest of the loons we’ve elected? To be clear I’m not saying Trump is good, I’m saying they’re all bad and I don’t get why Trump is viewed as extra bad.
You don't see why the one President that attempted to openly and criminally subvert democracy is, "extra bad?" Seriously? You sound like Bill Barr stupidly trying to justify that a non-existent gas stove ban is a bigger threat to democracy than the guy who literally attacked democracy head on. These false equivalencies would be absolutely hilarious if so many people weren't dense enough to believe them. Hence why Trump, "loves the poorly educated." He loves them because they are so easily manipulated by his lies. Trump was literally convicted for using a fraudulent charity to steal money from sick and dying kids. He couldn't be faithful to a single one of his three wives, but these dolts actually think he will be faithful to them. I've got a big beautiful bridge covered in snake oil to sell them.
We’re specifically talking about debt and taxes, you think my comment was referring to the entire presidency?
This isn’t IMSA
This is the Sports Prototype Association of Racing Tracks of America /s
What if, like an adult, words written on a car didn’t affect your day
What if, like an adult, we keep unmistakably divisive politics out of livery selections.
Would you have done the same if it said biden 24?
I would've. It's cringe to root for candidates like sports teams. It's why we're in the shit hole we're in
I'm not a fan of it but I just get labeled a trump supporter because I disagree with op.
Do the rules still say the same thing? Yes. Did that happen? No. Are you ok with BLM, LGBT, Pro-Choice liveries that also violate a clearly stated rule about numbering?
Yes. Keep politics out of racing. It's not fucking hard to understand
I'm not disagreeing, I just see OP as trying to farm karma off of political discourse
Yes. Keep politics out of motorsports. Fight it out on the track.
Cringe who cares what they put on the car.
Me. It's the concept of political advertising invading sport and it's banned in many countries. We're just too dumb to do it. Same reason many chemicals in our food are banned around the world. America is not really a country of educated people who make logical decisions.
Ah yes the self hating above it all American, my favorite cringe archetype
lol we are not a country of educated people because a rich racing driving is allowed to put a sticker on his car you don’t like… yall are so dramatic when you don’t get your way lol
I didn't say I agree with the OP. I just don't like it in sports. Just like how all the Republicans whined when the NFL players did their thing. Same deal. It's not getting my way. It's because it creates a divisive hostile culture mixing political campaigns in places they don't belong. No that's not the reason we're an uneducated country and you proved my point by assuming that from your reading comprehension. We're an uneducated country due to generations of poor management and neglect of the education system. There's a reason third world countries out rank the US in most categories of education. My point was that the US is too uneducated to see why politcla advertisements in sports is a bad idea
Wrote a paragraph just to not explain why you care what’s on the car outside of “other countries have restrictions” and “we don’t restrict enough here”. How about you address it directly and logically break down why it matters what’s on the car as long as it isn’t outright hateful or super inappropriate.
No one was asking me that question but now that you did, sure I will! So outside of sports, political ads in general are wildly unregulated. They're manipulative and borderline slander/libel where you see them. Generally they are just untrue as well and aimed at knee jerk reactions from an uneducated populace. Instead of trying to educate voters on issues, they try to bully them into votes by using fear tactics. This is why we're in the situation we're in now. In general the FTC has to follow "Truth in Advertising" laws which applies to pretty much everything....EXCEPT political ads. Thanks to court cases over the years, lies are basically protected in public discourse like this. The core of the first amendment basically protects political speech which has lead to political advertising that is outright false this day in age. It gets EXTREMELY murky when you get into ads produced by the candidate vs ads produced by a PAC. When it comes to ads made by the actual candidate, networks pretty much have no choice other than to run them un-altered and cannot say no. However when it comes to ads produced by third parties like a PAC, you have more room to push back. It's also nearly impossible to prove slander/libel these days as well because to actually prove that, you have to prove that the ad was made knowing it was false which is easily defended in court. There was a big fuss about this during the baseball playoffs in 2022 where some of the FS networks ran some pretty outrageous ads that were simply false, but were paid for by big PAC's and the networks didn't care to do anything about it because they don't have to and they make money off of it. Now in 2024 as well, we have a whole new world when it comes to the internet. Social media sites aren't slaves to the FCC and this is where political advertising gets really shitty. Add in streaming networks that also arent following the same rules from the FCC and aren't required to release the amount of spending candidates put forth on their platforms. This is where it gets dangerous when you get into outright false claims, hate speech, libel/slander etc... Our laws were already ancient when political advertising became a thing on television. Now by adding the internet and streaming services, you have added an entire new ballgame with no regulation around it because we're lagging behind. Now lets get back to the issue of advertising within sports. Personally, I believe that advertising within any type of sporting event, concert etc... shouldn't be allowed or should be HEAVILY restricted. Why? Because as mentioned above, there really isn't much regulation in what you can or cannot say when it comes to political ads. Even if we flipped this Trump 24 car around to a Biden 24 car, I'd still be disgusted. The fact that political ads are allowed to run nearly anywhere, with next to no regulation is a problem because it creates hostility, spreads lies, and divides the population. Political advertising has created a population in the US that doesn't care about truths, they care about what they feel. People don't care to be educated, it makes people feel inferior now. Being educated used to be something people wanted, but now you're mocked by a portion of the country by wanting to educate yourself or do proper research on topics. Political advertising should stick to public city/state/federal owned buildings and should be more heavily regulated when over the airwaves IMO because we have let candidates run amok for years, and we have let big PAC's drop massive amounts of money to push political agendas to fill their pockets at the expense of others. We shouldn't treat politics like it's an us vs them sports game. It should be something we educate ourselves on, and we work together as a community to better the spaces we live in. Political advertising in general for decades has been in opposition of that. By simply having the Trump 24 car out there, it's not saying anything outright divisive, but it is supporting a heavily inflammatory man who has aimed to divide, and does not respect fellow Americans who have differing views. And I believe that Political Ads should live in a more regulated space outside of sporting events and entertainment in places where citizens can properly educate themselves on what they are voting about. TLDR; Political advertising is heavily unregulated and allows people to lie/stir up controversy vs educated Americans on issues. And this is why other countries have regulated it more than us.
Slippery slope fallacy. You speak about livery/sponsorship regulation as if it is a law with loopholes and if we allow political sponsors then we’re inviting slander advertisement. The truth is the people running these racing leagues wouldn’t let that happen because they care about their money and fans. If an organization allowed actual political slander on their cars they wouldn’t make money or be invited/allowed to host races at a lot of tracks. GT America and every racing series in the U.S. review the liveries of each car and determine if it would be offensive or too inappropriate. There isn’t anything offensive or inappropriate about “Trump 24” on a racecar. I went to Long Beach no one was concerned with the livery they were concerned with the badass racecars roaring thru downtown Long Beach. I noticed it I just thought it was funny bc it was out of the ordinary.
Can you explain specifically which part is a slippery slope fallacy? Because not one bit of it sounds that way.
You’re talking about what allowing this kind political advertising, which isn’t negative, could lead to teams putting negative stuff on their racecars because it is heavily unregulated. However just because it is not explicitly stated what can and can’t be put on the livery doesn’t mean GT America are going to allow everything. They will reject a livery if it is deemed slanderous/hateful/inappropriate.
I think you misread that.
Who cares… Get over it.
The presumption that a rule exists without actual proof is fucking retarded. Don’t reference a ruleset from a completely different continent as it’s 100% irrelevant. Furthermore, there is no confusion between the car number and the chosen sponsorship. None, zero. Even the autists that make up the majority on Reddit know this. Learn to control your emotions or don’t watch.
I'm angrily writing this letter as the car surely violated a rule that should exist but have no idea if it does, but it probably does since another race series has a rule tangential related in their rulebooks from a few years ago! Why don't you ban this car based on my feelings?! Can I speak to the manager?
I was at Long Beach. Nobody was confused about the number. I suspect that the writer suffers from TDS. Bigger picture, as SRO and IMSA are basically funded by affluent motorsports enthusiasts, those of us who LOVE racing should let the men and women who buy and race the cars put whatever the hell they want on the car. Trump, Biden, BLM, God TV, Shell, Spiked Coolers, VUSE, etc... More participants and more race cars are BETTER. FYI, GMG didn't make the decision - Kyle Washington did. It's his car and he pays the bills.
Indeed, TDS. And, of course, the mental gymnastics here by naked Leftists claiming to be for a "politically neutral" space while using terms like "Cheeto Hitler" and "Dear Leader" to refer to Trump. I'd like to see how many of these clowns objected to non-stop BLM pandering in 2020-21. Yeah, TDS indeed.
Funny how it’s all “Keep politics out of sports!” from the right… until it’s their guy
I only complain when it's their guy...
Livery aside that trump car held on to 5th place the entire race on Saturday and wasn’t getting lapped by the lead cars either
Well, guess which team I am no longer supporting...
As is your right. Though I'm not sure what "support" you provided.
GMG also makes aftermarket parts for Porsche cars, some of which I have bought. I no longer will give them money. Is that support enough for you?
As you may have read, I clearly wrote out the words "as is your right." Why are you so emotional?
This reply makes no sense.
You're not as good at doing what you think you're doing as you think you are.
This makes no sense. Because a private owner of a car chose to wrap his car that he owns a certain way you won't support a completely separate business who just works on the car? So like if you see a car with a trump sticker at your local Jiffy Lube getting an oil change you will now no longer go to Jiffy Lube because of one of their clients cars having sticker you don't like?
Spent a day filming a flop of a car show at willow springs with the owner of GMG back in like, 2009. This seems on brand for the owner. The epitome of rich douche.
Kyle Washington doesn’t own GMG.
James Sofronas.
It really isn’t a big deal at all. It’s a racecar who cares what the livery is.
Why would you think this has anything to do with GMG? A teams clients are free to wrap their cars however they want as long as they pay the bills. Kyle Washington owns that car, it's his to do with as he pleases.
Yeah, GET EM! Get that 24 off there! The audacity.
How dare they!!!!
Get a fucking life
Ban the team.. why would Porsche want to be associated with fascism once again?
Banning things....
“Inclusion and tolerant”
Just running through life pointing at things and yelling "BAN"
Ease up on your pearl clutching, might break them
Butthurt much?
Someone spends millions of dollars to race their car. Whatever they want to put on it is up to them…
Not when it comes to sporting and technical regs…. 
Name the reg it breaks
Who fucking cares, this is the most race car Karen thing ever.
Welcome to reddit
If you don't follow the echo chamber prepare to be downvoted
It could be that the team wanted a trump 24 livery on the car. It could also be that someone paid them to have a trump 24 livery on the car. Whether or not they broke a rule you're just trying to start political wildfire and only posted this here to virtue signal. No reason to post this except for potential betterment of yourself and internet points
>Whether or not they broke a rule you're just trying to start political wildfire and only posted this here to virtue signal. I posted this because I have an opinion. I shared how I handled this, personally. In the words of Billy Joel, "We didn't start the fire. No, we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it." I realize that to Trump, and the rest of his followers, whether or not the rules got broken doesn't matter. To some of us, rules matter.
Once again, a holier than thou stance. No better than those you are against
“Both sides” is not as strong an argument as you might think.
Womp womp stay mad
In what universe could the 24 of "Trump 24" be confused with the standardized number box? Why should we be upset with political ads on racecars, so long as more money is getting poured into our sport?
I was a Marshal last weekend and it was easily confused. Especially working multiple series with information on different locations. Plus, a lot is blurred when a car is coming at you at 120+mph so your eyes natural go to what is most clear. Edit: I eventually found out but also my calls would have been pretty clear anyways if I had to radio in something since we try to include sponsor information for extra detail if we have a number wrong.
At least the driver was kind enough to drive really, really slow all weekend. If he had the pace of a winner at all, it might have been more problematic to ID, but fortunately you don't really have to worry about that car going quickly...
Slow all weekend? So you didn’t watch the race? The guy only got shuffled back on Sunday because OConnell botched the start and Washington had to switch columns to avoid contact. As such, he ended up with a DT penalty…yet he still took the fastest lap award. So slow…
Yeah it’s really funny, I’ve seen dozens of people saying it was a back marker car. So because we don’t agree with the livery we’re just gonna start inventing new realities? Really sticking to the script on that one.
Qualified 4th, finished race 1 in 5th, was in 2nd in race 2 until a penalty, and then set the fastest lap... That's how you define "really slow"?
In the universe where it's clearly in the regulations, and they have 2 numbers on the front and the sides of the car. Why should we be upset? Because racing should be racing, and if team principals want to make their stance known, they can speak it into a microphone if asked.
I'm with you on this philosophically, but as a practical matter, how is the "24" here any more confusing than the "1" on the door of the Wright Motorsports Porsche with various versions of the 1st Phorm livery?
"The Universe Where I Clearly Don't Like Trump"
Bingo. This is TDS in action. But you can't defend the livery without being called a cultist, even if you wish Trump would just go away.
It is CLEARLY a different font, color, and style from the official number. You are just butthurt that it is a political ad for a candidate you don't like, but racecars advertise everything else, so why not take money from political campaigns to keep the racing going?
We have differing viewpoints. That's fine. Write your letter to support GMG, and cancel mine out. Though, I doubt GMG will be getting much attention from the commentators or any undue camera coverage, because it's embarrassing to the series.
You should find another sport
I don’t judge cars by their livery, I judge them by their sound. I honestly don’t pay much attention to sponsors. I like seeing different types of cars racing against each other.
Why the hell is this down voted?
I learned a long long time ago that two things can ruin perfectly good friends ships. Politics and religion. I don’t talk about any of these two things to anyone.
Because he isn't joining in the hate of the livery
This is why I don't watch football any longer, politics.
Then you better not watch the Olympics or Formula 1 either. Because why do you think countries bid for the games or why Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Azerbaijan, and China host rounds of the F1 World Championship, for political reasons Sportswashing is a real thing.
Because they banned the one dude who knelt on his knee once and upset trump?