Cannabis brands are edging onto race grids around the world, testing how far motorsports will let them go—and revealing the legal and cultural hurdles that still hem the category in. An inflection point came in 2022 when hemp-derived brand 3CHI signed with Richard Childress Racing, which NASCAR billed as its first hemp-based consumer brand partnership across major U.S. pro sports, bringing a new sponsor category into stock-car racing’s mainstream. Yet limits remain: in 2024 NASCAR rejected a marijuana-leaf-themed 3CHI livery for Kyle Busch, underscoring creative red lines that still apply even when a category is technically permitted.
Open-wheel racing has been an earlier proving ground. In 2019, Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports unveiled DEFY—a CBD performance drink co-founded by NFL Hall of Famer Terrell Davis—as a sponsor, marking one of IndyCar’s first public CBD tie-ups. That same month, CBD maker Craft 1861 backed Carlin’s Indianapolis 500 entry, signaling that blue-chip events would cautiously accommodate hemp-derived brands where regulations allowed. In motorcycle and motocross series, policies often split the difference: in 2019, MX Sports permitted certain CBD sponsors but limited on-screen logo display, and outlets covering road racing noted similar practices such as covering or blurring decals for TV. Meanwhile, mainstream press around the Indianapolis 500 chronicled the emergence of CBD backers as a watershed moment that could foreshadow broader adoption as regulations stabilize.
Cannabis names have also appeared on the grassroots-to-pro ladder. In 2017, Shango became what it called the first cannabis brand to back a Formula Drift driver, Las Vegas’s Danny George—evidence that niche series can move faster than legacy leagues when policies are unsettled. More recently, individual stars have signed personal deals that steer clear of league approvals; seven-time NASCAR champion and IndyCar driver Jimmie Johnson, for example, became a cbdMD brand ambassador after vetting the arrangement with existing sponsors.
Even with momentum, obstacles remain. The first is regulatory fragmentation: hemp-derived CBD is broadly permitted in the U.S., but THC products remain federally illegal, complicating broadcast approvals, team insurance and activation at tracks that cross state lines. A second constraint is media-rights control across different series, which can force logo swaps and “clean” designs to satisfy national telecasts—hence the recurring prohibition on leaf iconography. There’s also a perception gap. While surveys suggest most U.S. sports fans are comfortable with cannabis sponsorships—including in NASCAR—the category still polarizes some viewers and family-focused series, requiring careful positioning around recovery, wellness and compliance rather than intoxication.
For brands eyeing the sector, best practice has emerged. Lead with federally legal hemp and CBD SKUs where permissible; pre-clear paint schemes with both the league and its broadcasters; localize on-site activations to state law; and lean on hospitality, community outreach and data capture when TV logo time is limited. For rights holders, clarity helps: publish sponsor playbooks that differentiate hemp/CBD from state-legal THC, codify creative do’s and don’ts for liveries and uniforms, and align early with broadcasters to avoid late-stage rejections that waste marketing spend.
The trajectory looks incremental rather than explosive—more Indy-style CBD deals and athlete ambassadorships, with occasional tests of the line in stock cars, bikes and drift. If legalization expands, motorsports could become a marquee proving ground for performance-and-recovery narratives that cannabis companies want to own. For now, the checkered flag still waves for cautious progress, not a green-light free-for-all. Stakeholders on both sides say clarity will drive growth and trust. Faster.