It’s been an eventful few days in the NASCAR community, especially for Bubba Wallace, the league’s only black driver.
In light of the recent murder of George Floyd and the protests that followed, NASCAR started Sunday’s race in Atlanta with a word on racial injustice from NASCAR President Steve Phelps and a moment of silence in honor George Floyd and others that have lost their lives at the hands of police brutality.
Wallace also donned an “I Can’t Breathe/Black Lives Matter” shirt before the race.
— Bubba Wallace (@BubbaWallace) June 7, 2020
And then after the race, Bubba Wallace passed out twice, once exiting his car, and again, mid-interview with FOX’s Jamie Little.
Geez. Bubba Wallace is NOT ok. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/CeCdmc8xqf
— 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐀𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫 (@dalter) June 7, 2020
And then on Monday, Wallace called for the end of all Confederate flags at NASCAR races in an interview with CNN’s Don Lemon.
“My next step would be to get rid of all Confederate flags… no one should feel uncomfortable when they come to a NASCAR race so it starts with confederate flags. Get them out of here, they have no place for them. The narrative on that before is, I wasn’t bothered by it, but I don’t speak for everyone else, I speak for myself… but diving into it more and educating myself, people feel uncomfortable with it.”
"My next step would be to get rid of all Confederate flags,” says NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace after throwing his support behind the nationwide protests against police brutality. “Get them out of here." https://t.co/Kf4CrMLLGh pic.twitter.com/wSSBhByguS
— CNN (@CNN) June 9, 2020
And today, NASCAR has responded in the affirmative, banning all displays of Confederate flags at NASCAR races going forward.
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 10, 2020
The decision has garnered mixed reactions with Bubba seeing love from other black athletes like LeBron James, Richard Sherman and Alvin Kamara, however other NASCAR fans have voiced their displeasure on social media.
Wallace will also rock a #BlackLivesMatter paint scheme on his #43 car at tonight’s Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway.
.@bubbawallace will run a special paint scheme to honor #BlackLivesMatter for Wednesday night’s race at @MartinsvilleSwy. pic.twitter.com/1axOlSsig7
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 10, 2020
