ESPN Allegedly Pulls NASCAR Ad Over Religious Undertones on Driver's Personal Web Site

Like many other individuals and institutions in the entertainment and athletic realms, NASCAR driver Blake Koch is involved in a campaign aimed at educating fans on the importance of voting in U.S. elections.

Koch has teamed up with his sponsor, the Rise Up and Register campaign, in an effort to inspire greater political efficacy. But in an interview on “FOX & Friends,” Koch explained that an television ad he appeared in for the campaign never aired, as he alleges that ESPN rejected it based on purported political and religious overtones.

Koch told host Brian Kilmeade that ESPN relayed a message that the ad was pulled because of the religious undertones on his own web site. But the race-car driver reiterated that his ad was only intended to register one million people to vote. The effort, Koch said, wasn't tied to any party or candidate. Below, see the clip in question (notice that faith and partisan politics aren't mentioned):

“I didn’t think that my faith in Christ would have an impact on whether or not a sponsor could air a commercial or not,” he said, going on to say that he’s undeterred. “The one thing I will not do is deny my faith just because a particular sponsor might not like the way I express my faith, which I do on my own time.”

Watch Koch explain the situation, below:

(H/T: FOX News Insider)