The familiar scene of Confederate flags waved by fans at NASCAR tracks could soon be a relic of racing’s good ol’ boy roots.
Bubba Wallace — the lone black driver in the sport — wants the stock car series with deep ties to the South to ban the flag at its properties and formally distance itself from what for millions is a symbol of slavery and racism.
There are signs that NASCAR is on its way to that move. As the nation grapples with social unrest following the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis, the predominantly white field of drivers united for a video promoting social change. A black NASCAR official took a knee before Sunday’s race near Atlanta in what may have been a first for the series, and the governing body vowed to do a better job of addressing racial injustice.
Wallace — who wore a black T-shirt with the words “I Can’t Breathe” at Sunday’s race — seized the moment and issued his most compelling comments yet on the topic of race and racing: “My next step would be to get rid of all Confederate flags.”
“There should be no individual that is uncomfortable showing up to our events to have a good time with their family that feels some type of way about something they have seen, an object they have seen flying,” Wallace told CNN. “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.”
Wallace arrived in the sport hyped as a trailblazer of sorts in a series that has long lacked diversity in the field. He finished second in the 2018 Daytona 500, but has had limited success and often needed patchwork sponsorship deals to keep racing. His biggest reach for now is as an agent of change: The 26-year-old Alabama native has pushed the issue of race to the front burner for NASCAR.
“We want all to feel welcome at our events in the future,” said Daryl Wolfe, NASCAR executive vice president and chief sales and operations officer.
NASCAR has been more open in recent times to the eradication of the Confederate flag. Former chairman Brian France in 2015 tried to ban the flying of Confederate flags at race tracks, a proposal too broad to enforce and one that angered NASCAR’s core Southern-based fan base.
Not everyone obliged and fans staunchly defended their Confederate flags and raised them from their RVs.
“Now, it’s kind of a middle finger,” NASCAR historian Dan Pierce said.
But as Confederate monuments are toppled around the South and calls for social justice continue to ring out, those fans may have run out of time.
Wallace will make another statement Wednesday when NASCAR returns to Martinsville Speedway in Virginia. He is driving a #BlackLivesMatter paint scheme for the Richard Petty Motorsports ‘ No. 43 Chevrolet.
“I think it’s going to speak volumes for what I stand for,” Wallace said in a Twitter video. “We knew the Martinsville race was open, we did not spell sponsorship for that, and it sparked an idea of, why not run a #blackout car?”
The message is simple for Wallace: “All lives will not matter until black lives matter.”
Wallace, though, conceded he rarely gave the Confederate flag much thought.
