Polkadot enthusiasts cheer as the cryptocurrency ventures into the heart of the Indianapolis 500, with IndyCar racing standout Conor Daly chosen as its brand ambassador following a community vote. The collaboration, set to span a year, was unveiled during a press conference on Tuesday and will kick off at the prestigious race slated for May.
A proposal to sponsor Daly garnered an overwhelming 95.8% approval in a community vote on the Polk Assembly website. The proposal, open for review from February 19 to March 14, sought 290,000 DOT, valued at approximately $2.1 million, to cover the $1.7 million commercial sponsorship fee for a race team along with 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,” noted Chris Wade, a Polkadot community contributor who spearheaded the initiative.
Wade further explained, “Plus, Polkadot’s sponsorship of Conor includes a NASCAR truck and Nitro Cross Race, and Conor’s experience straddles them all.”
Daly has driven in the Indy 500, Daytona 500, and the Formula 2 series in Europe.
“He’s fast, powerful, and adaptive—just like Polkadot,” Wade remarked.
Polkadot, founded in 2020 by Ethereum Co-Founder Gavin Wood, functions as a “multi-chain network” aiming to interlink various specialised blockchains into a unified network. Presently ranked as the 15th largest blockchain by market capitalization according to CoinGecko, Polkadot (DOT) has seen a 3.2% increase in the week, trading at $8.84.
Daly expressed his gratitude, stating, “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 honour and reflective of the power of what a more free and open internet can look like in the future.”
The sponsorship agreement with Daly, facilitated through Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and Cusick Motorsports, marks the latest collaboration between the racing and cryptocurrency sectors.
In 2021, McLaren Racing partnered with Tezos to launch a collection of Formula 1 NFTs. February 2022 witnessed Red Bull Racing sealing a $150 million sponsorship pact with the cryptocurrency exchange Bybit. This was followed by another deal in June 2023 with Sui blockchain creator Mysten Labs.
In January, Grammy Award-winning rapper Drake revealed a two-year naming sponsorship deal between Sauber Formula 1 and the crypto gambling platform 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.”
