Duck Dynasty will sponsor NASCAR race in Texas in April

FORT WORTH, Texas, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- A year after letting the NRA sponsor a race at Texas Motor Speedway, NASCAR will have Duck Dynasty’s Duck Commander brand sponsor the Duck Commander 500 Sprint Cup race on April 6.

One of the stars of A&E’s popular reality TV series, Phil Robertson, was recently in the public spotlight for making racist and anti-gay comments during an interview with GQ.

Robertson was suspended by A&E for the comments and the show has declined in ratings since the controversy.

The Duck Commander signed a three-year deal to sponsor race. The Robertsons may serve as grand marshals at the Duck Commander 500 and will almost certainly make appearances at the event.

"This is perhaps the most unique sponsorship in professional sports because not only does this come with special branding, it comes with celebrity spokespeople that are followed by tens of millions of people every week," said Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage, the Sporting News reports. "Fans will see members of the Robertson Family and cast of Duck Dynasty and all the rest during Duck Commander 500 week. This marriage is perfection."

The Robertson family attended last year's Daytona 500 and the race at Texas Motor Speedway.

"We're excited about the partnership for the Duck Commander 500, being aligned with NASCAR, and to have our brand associated with an event of this magnitude," said Duck Commander CEO Willie Robertson. "We are all big fans of NASCAR and have been all our lives. It's especially exciting to see our brand join to make it an awesome experience for the fan base and we can't think of a better place than our neighbor at the Texas Motor Speedway."

[Sporting News]