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In a groundbreaking move, Polkadot has teamed up with IndyCar racer Conor Daly to bring the world of cryptocurrency to the Indianapolis 500. Daly's car, sponsored through a community-backed initiative, will showcase Polkadot's branding in the prestigious race, marking a significant fusion of crypto and motorsport.
Community-Driven Sponsorship: Polkadot's Bold Entry into the Racing World with Conor Daly
A proposal to sponsor Daly received 95.8% approval in a community vote on the Polk Assembly website. According to Decrypt, the plan, which was up for review from February 19 to March 14, requested 290,000 DOT, worth around $2.1 million, to cover the $1.7 million commercial sponsorship fee for a race team plus other expenses.
"The Indy 500 is iconic and is the greatest spectacle in racing—ask any race car driver and it is the one race they would want to win," Polkadot community contributor Chris Wade, who led the initiative.
"Plus, Polkadot's sponsorship of Conor includes a NASCAR truck and Nitro Cross Race, and Conor's experience straddles them all," Wade added.
Daly drove in the Indy 500 and Daytona 500 in the same year and the Formula 2 series in Europe.
"He's fast, powerful, and adaptive—just like Polkadot," Wade said.
Polkadot, founded in 2020 by Ethereum Co-Founder Gavin Wood, is a "multi-chain network" that seeks to connect various specialized blockchains into a single unified network. According to CoinGecko, Polkadot (DOT) is the 15th largest blockchain by market capitalization and is up 3.2% this week and trades at $8.84.
"The fact that thousands of individuals in the Polkadot community—not a corporate marketing team—used their voices to vote and select me as their ambassador is an incredible honor and reflective of the power of what a freer and more open internet can look like in the future," Daly said in a statement.
The sponsorship deal with Daly, executed through Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and Cusick Motorsports, is the latest partnership between the racing and crypto industries.
Racing Meets Blockchain: The Accelerating Fusion of Motorsports and Cryptocurrency
McLaren Racing partnered with Tezos in 2021 to launch a collection of Formula 1 NFTs. In February 2022, Red Bull Racing signed a $150 million sponsorship agreement with cryptocurrency exchange Bybit. Another followed the Red Bull Racing deal in June 2023 with Sui blockchain creator Mysten Labs.
In January, Grammy Award-winning rapper Drake announced a two-year naming sponsorship agreement between Sauber Formula One and the cryptocurrency gambling website Stake.
"The fact that I'm racing not just for a brand name or logo, but representing developers, investors, and regular people that are building tomorrow's web, is thrilling and overwhelming," Daly added. "We're bringing power back to people, while making sports history."
