Hampton, V.A. – The Original Larry’s Hard Lemonade announces today that it will once again return to the No. 68 Chevrolet Camaro of Brandon Brown and Brandonbilt Motorsports (BMS) as the primary partner for the October 30, 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Martinsville Speedway.
Brown and The Original Larry’s Hard Lemonade head into Martinsville with a full head of steam after capturing their first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory together, only a few short weeks ago at the Talladega Superspeedway.
What started as a single-race partnership back in 2019 has now grown into a multi-race program, as well as a strong off-track friendship. The upcoming NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Martinsville Speedway marks the 7th and final primary event of 2021 season for The Original Larry’s Hard Lemonade and BMS, to which their Talladega race winning livery will make one last appearance for the year.
The primarily pink paint scheme and unique hood artwork was created with the goal of showing support for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, something (along with all cancer research) that is very important to the entire Larry’s Hard Lemonade family as both Anna Reynolds (wife to Vic Reynolds, Co-Founder and COO of Larry’s Hard Lemonade) and Sabrina Hack (wife to Keith Hack, General Manager of Larry’s Hard Lemonade), were diagnosed, fought bravely and have successfully overcome their battles with breast cancer.
“It meant the world for our company to go Victory Lane at Talladega with Brandon and his entire team, but what made it that much better was to be able do it in our Breast Cancer Awareness tribute scheme,” said Vic Reynolds, Co-Founder and COO of Larry’s Hard Lemonade. “Both Brandonbilt Motorsports and all of us at The Original Larry’s Hard Lemonade have faced our own battles with cancer over the last few years, which is something that we’ve really been able to find common ground over and it’s definitely brought us closer together – so, this win really meant a lot more than just a trophy.”
In 2016, shortly after The Original Larry’s Hard Lemonade was launched, Larry Wilson (Co-founder of Larry’s Hard Lemonade) was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, to which he was given only six months to live. In the remaining months that he was given to live, all Larry wanted was to see his beer packaged, so that everyone could enjoy it like he did. Both Vic and Bill “Senior” Ballou (Co-Founder of Larry’s Hard Lemonade) promised to make Larry’s dream a reality, however Vic also demanded something from Larry in return: a promise that he would keep fighting and never quit.
As Reynolds and Senior worked around the clock to fulfill their promise to Larry, Larry also held up his end of the bargain by working with his medical team to fight back against cancer. Then, in January of 2017, prayers were answered as Larry began winning in his fight with cancer. Simultaneously, the first can of Larry’s Hard Lemonade rolled off of the line within days of their 12-month goal. Sadly, the celebration was cut short when Larry was soon after diagnosed with dementia, which has since then been a slowly losing battle for our King of Lemonade®.
For BMS team owner, Jerry Brown, his battle with head and neck cancer began on April 7, 2020, to which son and driver, Brandon Brown was given the reigns of their family-owned race team while Jerry fought for his life. Much like Larry, Jerry battled hard and was deemed cancer-free on August 25, 2020 after a 5-month battle with the horrible disease.
Unfortunately, with the absence of their team owner and the unstable economy caused by COVID-19, many of Brandonbilt Motorsports’ partners withdrew from partnership at the conclusion of the 2020 season. In February of 2021, the lack of funding left a lot of uncertainty within BMS as Brandon would soon receive a call from his father, delivering the heartbreaking news that their team would have no choice but to close its doors after the spring Charlotte race if more sponsorship wasn’t found. Reluctantly, Brandon was forced to call each of his remaining partners to break the news of his team’s potential closing. When Reynolds and Senior first received the news, the two quickly discussed internally before reaching back out to Brandon to let him know that Larry’s Hard Lemonade believed in him and were ready to allocate all available funds into his racing career to give him a chance at saving his season.
With assistance from The Original Larry’s Hard Lemonade, Brown was given a few more weeks to try and save his racing career, to which he was successful in capitalizing on his partnership hunt as BMS would announce on September 8, 2021 that the team had sold out of all open primary races for the remainder of the 2021 season.
On October 2, 2021, Larry’s Hard Lemonade would once again partner with BMS at the Talladega Superspeedway. After a later than usual start time, the race would run long due to multiple on-track incidences, including a late-race caution which saw Brandon Brown and his No. 68 Larry’s Hard Lemonade Chevrolet Camaro leading the field at the time the yellow flag was displayed. While track workers attempted to clean up the on-track carnage, the remaining sunlight quickly turned into darkness and the race would be called short due to a lack of visibility – earning Brandon Brown, Brandonbilt Motorsports and The Original Larry’s Hard Lemonade their first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory.
“Racing on a limited budget is tough, but nowhere near as tough as this family,” said driver, Brandon Brown. “When Vic (Reynolds) and I first met, there was an immediate, strong connection. Larry’s Hard Lemonade is a tight-knit family, much like all of us at Brandonbilt Motorsports – and I think that’s what has made us such good friends, because there’s that sense of family. We’ve both been faced with our own battles over the last couple of years and to be able to share in this kind of success together has been extremely special.” Brown continued by saying, “I can’t thank Vic, Senior and all of the men and women at The Original Larry’s Hard Lemonade for their generosity this season and helping our team achieve what it has. Without them, I’m really not sure what I would be doing right now.”
The No. 68 Larry’s Hard Lemonade Chevrolet Camaro will hit the track at the Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, October 30 with race coverage airing live on NBCSN at 6 p.m. ET. The hood of Brown’s No. 68 Chevy will feature a unique Larry’s Hard Lemonade logo along with the hashtag, #LETSGOBREWBIE. The hashtag signifies the slogan for Larry’s Hard Lemonade’s breast cancer awareness campaign, in which a portion of all pink Larry’s Hard lemonade can sales throughout the month of October will be donated to Here for the Girls to assist with social-emotional support for young women who face not just treatment, but long-term cancer survivorship issues as well.
Brandonbilt Motorsports is a family-owned, professional stock car team competing full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS). Owned and operated by Woodbridge, Virginia native, Jerry Brown, Brandonbilt Motorsports has quickly become a household name in the NASCAR Xfinity Series through hard work and determination. As a smaller team in the NXS, Brandonbilt Motorsports’ goal has always been to do the most with less, while also becoming a contending organization in every race that it enters. Brandonbilt Motorsports shocked the racing world in 2020 as driver, Brandon Brown, secured the team’s first playoff berth in only its second, full-time season in the NXS, before going on to finish the year 11th in the overall points standings. In 2021, Brown again delivered by scoring the team its first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory at the Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, October 2nd. To learn more, visit bmsraceteam.com.
