NASCAR Caves To Pressure: Bans Confederate Flag at Racetracks

Bubba Wallace will be driving a black car with the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter.

The car also has the phrase "Compassion, Love, Understanding" on the back.

View the image of the car Wallace will be driving below:

Liberal Hollywood and members of the mainstream media praised the move by NASCAR to ban the confederate flag from all racetracks and events.

However, there has been some fallout and backlash.

The Associated Press reports that the "tricky part" for NASCAR is yet to come:

NASCAR’s decision to ban the Confederate flag from its races and venues grabbed headlines and stars like actress Reese Witherspoon and New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara were quick to praise the stock car series for ridding itself of a symbol long associated with slavery and racism.

Now comes the tricky part.

In a matter of days, NASCAR will be faced with a daunting question: How to enforce the ban at its sprawling, rowdy tracks once fans are allowed back in and campers start setting up their RVs for race weekends? Approximately 1,000 members of the military will be allowed into Sunday’s race near Miami and become the first fans at a NASCAR event since the pandemic shut down sports in March.

The enforcement question is much more likely to be an issue when the series holds races June 20-21 at Talladega, Alabama, where up to 5,000 fans are expected to be allowed in. Flags are a common sight at the superspeedway in the heart of NASCAR’s Southern base.

“That will certainly be a challenge. We’ll try to do that the right way,” NASCAR executive vice president Steve O’Donnell told SiriusXM on Thursday. “We’ll get ahead of it as we are today in letting people know that, ‘Hey, we’re all about pride, we’re all about America, fly your U.S. flag high, fly your drivers flags high and come on into the track.’ But if we see something displayed at the track we’re going to have react and we will. More details to come but I’m confident we’ll do that and we’ll do that in a smart way.”

Fellow drivers were quick to credit Bubba Wallace, NASCAR’s lone black driver, for pushing NASCAR to enact the ban. Years of bad press and hand-wringing over the fate of the flag evaporated within 48 hours once Wallace publicly condemned the relic of racing’s good ol’ boy roots.

“I’ve seen too many comments and too many stories from first-time fans that come to a race in years past and the first thing they say, ‘I’ve seen the Confederate flag flying and it made me feel uncomfortable,’” Wallace told the “Today” show. “We shouldn’t have anybody feeling uncomfortable.”

Wallace finished 11th at Martinsville on Wednesday night, hours after the ban was announced, driving a Black Lives Matter paint scheme with “Compassion, Love, Understanding” emblazoned on the hood.

Many observers and commentators have called NASCAR's move the end of an era.

As protests and riots spread across the nation, many brands are attempting to appease the masses.

Multiple athletes and sports leagues have issued statements on George Floyd.

Ahead of its Atlanta race, NASCAR paused for a moment of silence.

Yahoo reported that they observed 30 seconds of silence:

NASCAR stopped its pre-race routine for a moment of silence as protests continue across the country in the wake of George Floyd’s killing on May 25.

Drivers stopped their cars in the middle of the track ahead of the race’s beginning at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday. NASCAR president Steve Phelps then addressed drivers and teams over the radio.

“Our country is in pain and people are justifiably angry, demanding to be heard,” Phelps said. “The black community and all people of color have suffered in our country, and it has taken far too long to hear their demands for change. Our sport must do better. Our country must do better. The time is now to listen. To understand. And to stand against racism and racial injustice. We ask our drivers, our competitors and all our fans to join us in this mission. To take a moment of reflection to acknowledge that we must do better as a sport.”

After Phelps’ comments, NASCAR held a 30-second moment of silence.

NASCAR drivers, including Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski and others, recorded a video that was published on social media ahead of the race.

Individual NASCAR drivers also took to social media to issue statements regarding the protests and George Floyd.