Cassill to be paid in cryptocurrency in deal with Voyager

Cassill to be paid in cryptocurrency in deal with Voyager

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Landon Cassill will be the first NASCAR driver paid entirely in cryptocurrency in a sponsorship deal with Voyager that begins at Nashville Superspeedway this weekend.

Voyager, a cryptocurrency brokerage platform, reached a 19-race deal to sponsor Cassill in the Xfinity Series in his JD Motorsports entry. Voyager will pay the funds in Litecoin to Cassill, who has been avid in the market for several years.

Cassill first met Voyager CEO Steve Ehrlich at a crypto conference two years ago when Cassill was speaking on a panel. He’d been pitching the sponsorship idea ever since.

“Landon Cassill’s focus and determination on the race track translates across everything he does,” said Ehrlich. “Landon also shares our vision of widespread crypto adoption, and we’re proud to be the first company to secure a primary NASCAR sponsorship completely with crypto."

Cassill said Voyager is paying “market rate” for the sponsorship but the funds will be distributed in crypto. He said the payment is a “portfolio of digital assets” that includes Litecoin and Bitcoin priced at market rates.

“I can trade it out right away before the market changes or hang on to it as the market goes up or goes down, carve out a little bit, pay my bills with it and hold the rest,” he said.

Cassill said he’s been invested in cryptocurrency for several years and seen “significant gains” to his personal portfolio. He said he had no hesitation in putting together a deal that will pay crypto instead of cold hard cash.

“There’s a handful of drivers that are into crypto, but I’m probably one that’s been in it for long enough that’s I’m pretty comfortable with how it works,” Cassill said.

The crypto market is just beginning to hit motorsports and Bitcoin had a high-profile debut at the Indianapolis 500 as the primary sponsor for Rinus VeeKay. The weekend after the IndyCar race, VeeKay, Conor Daly and Ed Carpenter were in Miami attending a Bitcoin convention.

“Crypto platforms use a lot of social media and community building as marketing,” Cassill said. “The big companies haven’t done a lot of national ad campaigns, so for Voyager to go after a national ad campaign is a sign that the space is really starting to branch out.”

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NASCAR Driver to Be Paid Entirely in Crypto in Voyager Sponsorship Deal

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Voyager Digital sponsors first NASCAR driver paid in crypto

Landon Cassill has partnered with Voyager Digital Ltd. for the remainder of the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, making him the first driver to be paid fully in cryptocurrency. JD Motorsports announced the 19-race primary sponsorship deal Thursday.

Quite literally and figuratively, Cassill is investing his financial and professional future in Voyager.

“You can say no pun intended, but it really is,” Cassill told NASCAR.com. “I check my Voyager account probably 100 times a day.”

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Voyager operates a crypto-asset trading platform. Cassill, an avid supporter of the cryptocurrency market, met Voyager CEO Steve Ehrlich a couple years ago at a crypto conference and has kept in contact since then. Their budding relationship is what sparked this partnership.

JD Motorsports’ No. 4 Chevrolet will officially sport its first Voyager paint scheme in Saturday’s Tennessee Lottery 250 at Nashville Superspeedway (3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports Live, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Ehrlich and other Voyager employees plan to be in attendance, as the company is excited about joining the sport and gaining a national platform.

“It goes all to education, and what we try to do is educate the masses on why cryptocurrency matters, why digital dollars is where we’re going,” Ehrlich said. “… I always tend to ask people as customers or people that are wanting to learn more: When was the last time you actually used real greenback dollars? Most people don’t. They use debit cards, and everything is electronic anyway. So, this is the next phase of electronic currency.”

Cryptocurrency can be turned into everyday cash and transferred to a personal banking account, thus avoiding volatility. Voyager even offers various interest rates to its users; the amount depends on the asset. Voyager will pay Cassill and JD Motorsports in a portfolio of crypto assets led by Litecoin and Voyager Token.

“Well, I mean, there is risk in holding cryptocurrency as there is with any stock or any investment,” Cassill said. “But for me, it’s something I’m familiar with, I’m comfortable with and I feel like I have a good handle on what I’m willing to risk and what I need to pay my bills.”

JD Motorsports owner Johnny Davis trusted Cassill’s instincts, too, when approached with the offer.

Voyager actually had a one-off opportunity with the No. 4 car about a month ago at the Circuit of The Americas, where Cassill placed 22nd. Otherwise, JD Motorsports has had nine different main sponsors through the 14 races so far. That’ll no longer be the case with Voyager.

“It gives us the opportunity to have more continuity on the car,” Cassill said. “These are small details that people maybe don’t realize. But with a small team, just knowing what’s going on the car and the team being able to take the energy that they might have focused on selling sponsors week to week or wrapping the car 10 different ways every week, now my guys can focus on the performance and make sure that we’re getting everything we can out of the car.”

This season, Cassill has posted a best finish of 12th twice – Daytona Road Course in February and Darlington Raceway in May. He’s ranked 18th in the standings right now – six spots outside of the 12-driver playoff field with 12 events left in the regular season.

Cassill, a 31-year-old from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has competed in the Xfinity Series since 2007 in both limited and full-time roles. His career-best result was third at Daytona International Speedway in 2011.

This 2021 slate marks Cassill’s first full-time effort in the series since 2014, when he closed out the season 12th in points.

“In the crypto world, we say, ‘to the moon,'” Ehrlich said. “We think this partnership is to the moon on what we can do for education and growth of both brands.”