NASCAR’s YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway is still hours away, but Bubba Wallace – the driver of the No. 23 car – is already in the thick of it.
That’s nothing new. Wallace has historically been one of the most polarizing figures in the NASCAR Cup Series. Time and time again, the driver for 23XI Racing has found himself at the center of his fair share of controversies over the course of career. The biggest was undoubtedly the “noose” incident that happened at Talladega a few years back.
You probably remember when it was reported that a noose had been found in his garage stall. After an investigation, it turned out to just be a garage door pull. That whole saga resulted in Bubba receiving a lot of flack online, even though he wasn’t the one who reported the noose. Then you’ve also got his on-track incidents. He’s one of the most aggressive drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series, and is often accused of intentionally wrecking other drivers.
If Wallace causes a pileup today at Talladega, there’s some extra juice involved (thanks to his paint scheme) that’s undoubtedly going to have NASCAR fans jabbing at him (pun intended).
The No. 23 car will be painted up in partnership with Kroger Health, which means that Bubba Wallace is going to be racing around ‘Dega in a car that has an ad for the protein-based COVID-19 vaccine Nuvaxovid slapped right on the side.
Here’s a look at Bubba’s paint scheme for the YellaWood 500, in case you haven’t seen it:
“Kroger Health and Nuvaxovid (COVID-19 Vaccine, Adjuvanted) will sponsor Bubba Wallace and the No. 23 Toyota Camry XSE this weekend at Talladega.”
I’m sure that’ll go over really well at Talladega… maybe turn that one down? But I guess Big Pharma writes big checks, eh?
Wallace spoke with the media about the paint scheme that he and his team are rolling with for the NASCAR Cup Series race, and at first, he tried to downplay the whole thing by saying the design is just supposed to help people be more educated about the flu shot.
“It’s the Kroger Health side of things (encouraging people) to get your flu shot. People are gonna lose their minds over the COVID-19 thing, but for us, it’s about building opportunities to be more educated on getting their flu shots and taking care of their health and moving forward with that. Everyone else can make their own headlines, but we’re all in it together to help everyone’s health.
To be fair, the flu vaccine is on the hood, and the COVID vax is on the side, but still, Bubba seemed to initially be downplaying the question.
Once a reporter asked Wallace if he thought racing in a COVID-19 paint scheme at Talladega was “Facebook catnip” (I’d never heard that before), the polarizing NASCAR driver seemed to drop the polished and professional method of answering, and admitted it’s feeding right into his critics:
“Oh just feeding right into them. Just pissing off the keyboard warriors. Man it’s… why not, right? Here we are.”
And while it will certainly spark some Facebook conversation, it’s unfair to just dismiss the controversy as keyboard warrior nonsense.
COVID vaccines DID have legitimate question marks surrounding lackluster efficacy, potential for dangerous side effects, and the amount of overall pressure that was placed on people to get them… people get mad when they’re lied to.
It’d take a stellar day of driving… but just imagine the backlash if Bubba Wallace pulls the COVID-19 vaccine car into victory lane later today.
