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Post by Admin on Jul 6, 2020 20:53:56 GMT
President Donald Trump called out driver Bubba Wallace on Monday, alleging that a noose found in his garage at Talladega Superspeedway last month was a hoax and questioning NASCAR's decision to ban the Confederate flag from the sport.
Trump tweeted: "Has @bubbawallace apologized to all of those great NASCAR drivers & officials who came to his aid, stood by his side, & were willing to sacrifice everything for him, only to find out that the whole thing was just another HOAX? That & Flag decision has caused lowest ratings EVER!"
Wallace responded with a statement Monday afternoon in which he wrote: "Love over hate every day. Love should come naturally as people are TAUGHT to hate. Even when it's HATE from the POTUS."
Tyler Reddick, who drives the No. 8 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, responded that he and other drivers don't need an apology.
"We don't need an apology. We did what was right and we will do just fine without your support," he tweeted, before later deleting the tweet.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany defended the president's decision to wade into the Wallace case, saying in an interview on Fox News Channel that "The president's merely pointing out that we've got to let facts come out before we jump to judgment."
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Post by Admin on Jul 11, 2020 6:47:11 GMT
The truck owned by the driver who threatened via Facebook to quit NASCAR over its Confederate flag ban is getting political.
Ray Ciccarelli’s No. 49 truck will be driven on Saturday at Kentucky by Tim Viens and will have the logo for President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign plastered all over it. Viens is involved with a PAC supporting Trump’s re-election bid — the same PAC that is sponsoring Corey LaJoie’s car for nine races in the Cup Series.
Viens, a driver who has never finished inside the top 20 in seven career NASCAR starts, tried to run a Trump-supporting truck before in 2020. But his Trump truck never showed up at Daytona.
NASCAR banned Confederate flag June 10 After NASCAR decided to ban fans from flying the Confederate flag at its tracks, Ciccarelli’s wife posted to the team’s Facebook page that it would be done with NASCAR at the end of the season because of the ban.
“Well it’s been a fun ride and dream come true but if that is the direction NASCAR is headed we will not participate after the 2020 season is over,” the post said. “I don’t believe in kneeling during anthem nor taken [sic] ppl right to fly what ever flag they love. I could care less about the Confederate Flag but there are ppl that do and it doesn’t make them a racist all you are doing is f------ one group to cater to another and I ain’t spend the money we are to participate in any political BS!! So everything is for SALE!! Sarah Ciccarelli.”
Ciccarelli tried to walk back those comments somewhat in later interviews after the Facebook post was deleted. But the post drew mainstream attention — far more attention than Ciccarelli has ever gotten for what he or his teams have ever done on the track.
NASCAR exploring political bans? The announcement of the Trump truck at Kentucky comes on the same day a report emerged that NASCAR was in early discussions about potentially banning political sponsorships. The Trump-supporting PAC is paying at least $350,000 to GoFas Racing for the sponsorship of LaJoie’s car.
NASCAR has allowed political advertisements in the past on cars, but it also hasn’t been directly targeted by a president like it was on Monday when Trump tweeted his displeasure for NASCAR’s flag ban amid a baseless attack on Bubba Wallace.
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Post by Admin on Jul 19, 2020 8:28:18 GMT
NASCAR’s Cup Series All-Star Race was not a good one for Bubba Wallace. Appearing at a qualifier held on Wednesday in Bristol, Tennessee, Wallace was booed, then crashed into a wall.
It was the first time a significant number of fans were present at a NASCAR race since the Confederate flag was banned. Several thousand fans were on hand – and so was the flag.
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Jenna Fryer, the Associated Press auto racing reporter, tweeted that many Confederate flags were sighted in and around the Bristol Motor Speedway.
“FWIW, in addition to Confederate flag flying over Bristol there was another hanging off a balcony of a condo across from the main entrance as well as others along Speedway Blvd. Spoke to fan @matt2harrison and he said he say many flags on shirts and other items in stands.”
Fryer also reported that Wallace, NASCAR’s only top tier African American driver and prominently in the news when reports surfaced of a noose found in his garage at another track, was booed when he was introduced and had fans cheer when he crashed.
“Bubba Wallace was also booed when he was introduced, and many cheered when he crashed. NASCAR still has a lot of work to do to back up its position. The group Justice 4 Diversity held signs along Speedway Blvd. after the race.”
Wallace made an appearance on Thursday night’s episode of Showtime’s Desus & Mero talk show and defended his role in NASCAR’s efforts to ban the Confederate flag. NASCAR banned the flag on June 10, the same day Wallace drove a car supporting the Black Lives Matter movement at Martinsville, Virginia.
“We always want to pay attention to the negative, but the narrative that’s been out there now is saying all NASCAR fans are racist, and whatnot, and that’s totally not true,” Wallace said on the show, “I’ve gone down … in the infield at Talladega, wherever it’s at, Daytona, Texas, Michigan, and I never knew if people were flying the Confederate flag. We would go there and drink beer, have a good time and hang out. It wasn’t like they don’t want you there.”
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