Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson became the topic of conversation in the NASCAR community this week due to his short-lived legal dispute with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and JR Motorsports.
Just a few days ago, Jackson's legal team filed a notice of opposition claim with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to stop Earnhardt from using the original No. 8 logo used by JR Motorsports. The two-time MVP has already trademarked "ERA 8 by Lamar Jackson." There were concerns that Earnhardt would confuse consumers if he received his own trademark for No. 8.
Thankfully, this legal battle was settled on Friday afternoon. The former Cup Series driver announced that he has secured the rights to use a stylized version of No. 8 that he had on his car during his days with Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
"Through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, we successfully secured the rights to the stylized 8," Dale Jr. said in a statement. "Therefore, we will be moving away from the original JRM 8 we have used since 2019. We are looking forward to the remainder of an already successful season."
Clearly, other NASCAR teams were aware of Jackson's dispute with JR Motorsports.
On Saturday morning, the official social media account for RFK Racing shared photos of Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher's vehicles side-by-side. The caption for this post included a clear jab at Baltimore's superstar quarterback.
"Excited to have Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen numbers on the cars this weekend," RFK Racing wrote on X.
Keselowski currently drives the No. 6 Ford for RFK Racing. Buescher, on the other hand, operates the No. 17 Mustang.
Last year, Jackson's team tried to stop Troy Aikman from filing a trademark on his number. When asked about that incident, he had nothing to say.
"We're going to keep this about football," Jackson said. "That's outside noise."
With that said, Jackson has not yet commented on his legal dispute with Earnhardt.
