NASCAR’s Bubba Wallace races with ‘Black Live Matter’ scheme on car
NASCAR outlawed the display of the confederate flag at its events in the wake of protests raging across the United States after the death of George Floyd.
Bubba Wallace, the only African-American driving in the NASCAR Cup Series, used a #BlackLivesMatter livery on his Richard Petty Motorsport Chevrolet for a race at Martinsville Speedway on Wednesday.
Wallace, wearing an American flag mask, clapped his hands when asked about the decision before the start of the race.
“It’s been a stressful couple of weeks,” Wallace said in an interview. “This is no doubt the biggest race of my career tonight. I’m excited about tonight. There’s a lot of emotions on the race track.”
Wallace wore a black “I Can’t Breathe” t-shirt - which were George Floyd’s last words to officers restraining him - but did not kneel during the national anthem.
His Chevy had “Compassion, Love, Understanding” emblazoned on the hood.
In a video posted on Richard Petty Motorsports’ Twitter account earlier, Wallace had said, “I think it’s going to speak volumes for what I stand for, but also what the initiative that NASCAR, the whole sport, is trying to push.”
Ahead of the race, NASCAR outlawed the display of the confederate flag at its events. The flag was a common and complicated sight at NASCAR races. Through the civil rights era right on through the season opener at Daytona in February, the flag dotted infield campsites and was waved in grandstands by fans young and old.
Floyd, a black man, died May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck while Floyd was handcuffed and saying that he couldn’t breathe. His death sparked protests that have roiled the nation for days, and Confederate monuments are being taken down across the South - the traditional fan base for NASCAR.
The decision had Confederate flag loyalists howling in protest and vowing to swear off the sport.
Fans have not been allowed back at races yet amid the coronavirus pandemic. It won’t be long: NASCAR plans to welcome a small number of fans at a race Sunday near Miami and more later this month in Alabama.
NASCAR has had a checkered history with race and it took another blow when driver Kyle Larson was fired in April after he uttered a racial slur during a live-streamed virtual race.