Mahalo Coffee Roasters and NIECE Motorsports are entering a new partnership this weekend at Kansas Speedway, when the company will serve as the primary sponsor for Trevor Bayne and the No. 45 Silverado.
Mahalo is a company that was founded by Trevor Bayne in 2019, following his unexpected exit from the NASCAR Cup Series.
The company, located in Knoxville, Tennessee, is an independent coffee shop owned by Bayne and his wife Ashton. Mahalo has one standalone location, as well as a online store for merchandise, coffee beans, and even a subscription service to have coffee delivered right to your door.
“This is a surreal opportunity for my family and myself,” Bayne said. “To see our business, Mahalo Coffee Roasters, that we started from scratch less than two years ago on our Niece Motorsports truck this weekend is unbelievable! I hope we can come away from Kansas one spot better than where we finished at Talladega and continue to build momentum as a team.”
Sean Cain, who owns Blackbeard LTD, is the Seattle-based designer responsible for Bayne’s truck. Cain previously worked with Bayne during the eNASCAR pro Invitational Series when the Knoxville, Tennessee native brought the Mahalo colors with him.
He provided details to TobyChristie.com on the scheme design.
“It’s kind of inspired by the packaging of his coffee,” Cain remarked. “He sent over his logos, I studied his website, and it was nice to be able to talk to him about his brand philosophy. He’s taken a real hands-on approach on how he markets his brand.It’s basically inspired by his own branding.”
Cain left no stone unturned when it came to the design of the truck. The subtle rainbow colors on the sides, front grille, and bumper are part of the marketing brand of Mahalo. While the bags of coffee beans remain the same for each kind, a colored sticker own each bag differentiates the kind of coffee a consumer would like.
Cain was offered a somewhat rare work flow where he worked hand-in-hand with the driver on the scheme design. He spent time working with former NASCAR Cup Series driver Kasey Kahne on both NASCAR work, as well as his dirt team.
“A lot of times, the driver isn’t the decision maker, its usually the sponsor – in this case, Trevor is both,” Cain said.
Cain mentioned that one of his favorite parts of the truck design is the blue grille bar – something that is unique to the Silverado body. After working with Ford’s during the season, Cain was eager to try out the Chevrolet body.
Bayne made a surprise start at Darlington for NIECE Motorsports in the No. 40 before moving over to the No. 45, a seat that was occupied by Ty Majeski. The team has never made a public comment on the switch.
In four starts this season, Bayne has one top 5 finish and 3 finishes below the 25th position, including a disqualification after Bristol Motor Speedway.
You can see the Mahalo Silverado make its debut on track on Saturday, October 17th at 4:00PM EST on FOX, the FOX Sports App, or listen to the race on MRN Radio.
