To the moon! To Sochi! To … Talladega Superspeedway?

Last week, the a few members of the notoriously philanthropic community behind the meme-inspired cryptocurrency Dogecoin noticed that NASCAR racer Josh Wise was without a sponsor. So, being the charitable guys they are, they took to reddit to rally the rest of the Dogecoin community and raise the $55,000 needed to cover his car. A funding page was set up to accept donations, and with the help of over 1,200 contributors (one of whom accidentally donated $15,000), the group has reached it’s goal roughly a week after the funding campaign began. It’s official, folks – we’re going to see a Doge car race around Talladega next month.

On May 4, at the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama, Wise’s no. 98 Ford will take to the track adorned in all manner of silly internet meme decals. We don’t know what the official sponsor wrap will look like just yet, but a few photoshop-savvy redditors have already taken the liberty of creating a few mockups, and there’s currently a design competition underway to decide the final look.

And this isn’t the first fundraising spearheaded by the Dogecoin community either. Previously, donations raised by the community have sent the Jamaican bobsled team to Sochi, raised money to supply needy families with service animals and even gathered $30,000 to help supply clean water to Kenya.

Could online communities and cryptocurrency donations be the future of athletic sponsorship? Tell us what you think in the comments.

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