Christian NASCAR Driver Gets New Sponsor After Being Dropped Following ESPN Ad Ban

Last month, The Blaze reported about NASCAR driver Blake Koch and his campaign aimed at educating fans on the importance of voting in U.S. elections. As we highlighted, Koch alleged that ESPN refused to air his purely non-partisan and non-religious commercial based purely on religious content present on his personal web site.

(Related: ESPN Allegedly Pulls NASCAR Ad Over Religious Undertones on Driver’s Personal Web Site)

Here's a portion of our original report:

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.

Now, The Christian Post is reporting that another sponsor has stepped up after his original backer, Rise Up and Register, dropped its support for Koch after ESPN issued its decision. The Post has more:

Fortunately for Koch, however, ChristianCinema.com intervened by sponsoring him for a race and by starting a campaign to help him find a more permanent solution to his financial problems on the track.

"It shows me how much God has his hand on the situation that he would bring along ChristianCinema.com at just the right time," said Koch in a statement. "I'm excited about how they encourage families in their faith, which is extremely important to me. God is always faithful!" [...]

"We're excited to support Blake and his stand for his faith," said the website's CEO, Bobby Downes, in a release. "This is a great opportunity to keep him racing and at the same time bring awareness about Christian movies that reflect family values."

In order to help Koch beyond just one race, however, the company has also started the #KeepBlakeRacing campaign to make others aware of his need for a long-term sponsorship partner. The company is also promoting awareness by offering a free month of DVD rental service for the first 10,000 people who sign up to their site using the promotional code "BLAKE.

While Koch was practically forced to back out of the O'Reilly Auto Parts 300 race at the Texas Motor Speedway in Dallas last weekend due to the loss of his initial sponsor, ChristianCinema.com's support kept him in. Now, the company's campaign to help the racer will impact whether he'll be able to continue competing.

Standing for his faith apparently came at a cost, but it seems there were people out there willing to back him up. Find out more about Koch here.

(H/T: Christian Post)