What Is Chumba Casino? Questions Arise After Chumba Car Wins Daytona 500
Posted on: February 16, 2026, 08:08h.
Last updated on: February 16, 2026, 08:11h.
- The Chumba Casino car won the Daytona 500 on Sunday
- Driven by Tyler Reddick, the No. 45 car is a part of Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing
- Chumba is an online sweepstakes casino that has caused controversy
Tyler Reddick won “The Great American Race” on Sunday with a last-lap pass at the Daytona International Speedway in Florida to secure Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing’s first Daytona 500 victory.
Reddick’s historic victory, in which he never led a single lap until the white flag waved, crossed the checkered flag in the No. 45 Toyota Camry XSE wrapped in Chumba Casino branding.
While Reddick’s victory was momentous for the 23XI Racing team, the Daytona 500 win also delivered more credence to the online casino sweepstakes space, in which Chumba is a pole sitter.
“Engines off. Confetti on. That’s a Daytona 500 win for Tyler Reddick in our Chumba Casino car, the perfect good luck charm. Let’s go!” Chumba Casino wrote on its socials.
Chumba’s in the fun lane,” the posts added.
Chumba wasn’t the only sweepstakes casino car running yesterday. Rival Modo Casino wrapped Michael McDowell’s No. 71 car.
Controversial Casinos
Many NASCAR fans expressed their confusion about what Chumba Casino was after Reddick’s Chumba Casino crossed the Daytona 500 finish line first.
“No idea what Chumba Casino is, but it sponsored Reddick and Michael Jordan,” read one comment on X.
What is a Chumba?” asked another.
Chumba Casino is one of the many online sweepstakes casinos operating across the country in a gray capacity. The platforms claim to be social gaming, or free-to-play online slots and table games.
However, the websites and apps feature a “dual-currency” scheme that allows players to purchase a secondary currency, often called sweeps coins, which gives the user the ability to gamble on the online slots and interactive table games for the chance to win credits that can be redeemed for cash prizes. Sweepstakes sites claim that sweeps coins cannot be cashed out in the traditional sense of online gambling, but can be “redeemed” for a cash withdrawal.
The dual-currency arrangement has been lambasted by state lawmakers, gaming regulators, and attorneys general as constituting illegal online gambling. Several states have issued cease-and-desist orders to online sweepstakes operators, and some jurisdictions have passed laws banning dual-currency sweepstakes.
Chumba Casino is currently not available in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Washington, and West Virginia.
Owner Arrested
Last month, the founder and CEO of Virtual Gaming Worlds (VGW), the parent entity of Chumba Casino, along with LuckyLand Slots and Global Poker, was arrested in Australia after allegedly breaking into the home of his former partner.
The Aussie billionaire, Laurence Escalante, was charged with aggravated assault, criminal damage, aggravated home burglary, and theft. Police report that “trafficable quantities” of cocaine, MDMA, and ketamine were found inside Escalante’s home.
Escalante is next due in court on Feb. 26.
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