During any given NASCAR weekend – in addition to the race on the track – sponsors and corporate partners run their own race for the right to be called a top brand of the sport. Driven Sunglasses is one of the participants, and the company’s marketing team is making waves in NASCAR for more than its shades.
Driven Sunglasses provides sleek, high-quality, reasonably priced sunglasses and considers itself to be the “affordable eyewear to the motorsports world.” Since its founding in late 2022, Driven has utilized partnerships with top drivers and teams to grow from humble beginnings.
In late 2023, Driven executives made a splash by partnering with Josh Berry and Ryan Preece. With these two drivers, the brand set its sights on new heights.
Last season was a year of major growth. The Driven brand made waves both in the garage area and on pit road. Driven is unique in that it not only provides sunglasses ranging from casual to Z87+ approved, but also supplies teams with items such as crew shirts for race weekends.
While the Driven team enjoyed success with their eyewear last season – including the signing of New Zealand superstar Shane van Gisbergen – the brand still wanted to focus on growing the apparel side of its business.
“We just kept grinding in the garage,” said company co-founder Nick Thames. “Being at 20-something races in 2024, promoting our drivers, promoting our eyewear, but still trying to work on the bigger race teams to promote our apparel brand.”
Driven finally struck gold when the now-defunct Stewart-Haas Racing reached out, creating what Thames deemed a “launch pad” for the future of Driven’s apparel. Though SHR shut its doors after 2024, Driven completed the season with the team and re-upped with SHR’s new identity, the Haas Factory Team, for 2025.
But Driven didn’t stop there. The brand has expanded its apparel partnerships to Brad Keselowski’s RFK Racing, Jimmie Johnson’s Legacy Motor Club, and even NASCAR’s Official Tire, Goodyear.
Nonetheless, this doesn’t mean Driven has stopped building its roster of drivers. Names like Ty Dillon, Cole Custer, Sam Mayer, Ben Rhodes, and even NHRA Funny Car champion Ron Capps, among many others, have joined the lineup of drivers wearing Driven Sunglasses.
These partnerships have not only helped spread the word about Driven in the garage area, but they’ve also helped the brand expand its reach with race fans around the world. For example, Van Gisbergen’s international popularity forced the Driven team to rethink its shipping method.
“We actually changed our entire shipping method on our website to be able to include New Zealand and Australia,” Thames said. “So there’s only really three countries that we ship to.”
Prior to co-founding Driven, Scotty Banks had more than 25 years of experience working for some of the most well-established eyewear brands in NASCAR. Banks is thankful for the continued support his relationships in the NASCAR industry have given the young brand.
“When I approached people about what we were going to be starting and doing, everybody had my back,” Banks said. “They said they would go with me or work with me in any way. And it’s kind of a surprise; you never know if they’re going to or not, and everybody’s really stuck with me.”
While Driven continues to enjoy growing sales, Thames and Banks have revised their goals, such as becoming a single-source supplier for the race teams with which they have partnership deals. This would make Driven the sole supplier of items like quarter zips and hoodies, streamlining fulfillment of these race team necessities.
The drive to be new and different has set Driven apart from other brands in the NASCAR garage area, and Thames believes that’s been a key factor in the company’s growth.
“We like to be in the trenches with these guys, and we go and ask them, ‘What do you need or what would make our product better?’” Banks said. “We work with these guys, so they say we’re there, and that goes a long way.”
