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The NASCAR Cup All-Star Race was not a good one for Bubba Wallace. Appearing in a qualifier held Wednesday in Bristol, Tennessee, Wallace was booed and then crashed into a wall.
It was the first time that a significant number of fans had been in a NASCAR race since the Confederate flag was banned. Several thousand fans were present, and so was the flag.
Jenna Fryer, the automotive racing reporter for the Associated Press, tweeted that many Confederate flags were seen at and around Bristol Motor Speedway.
“FWIW, in addition to the Confederate flag flying over Bristol, there was another hanging from a condo balcony in front of the main entrance, as well as others along Speedway Blvd. I spoke to fan @ Matt2Harrison and he said he says a lot of flags on T-shirts and other items in the stands “.
Fryer also reported that Wallace, the only top-tier African-American NASCAR driver and prominently in the news when reports of a rope found in his garage on another track appeared, was booed when it was featured and fans cheered when it 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 Justice 4 Diversity group had signs along Speedway Blvd. after the race. “
Wallace appeared on the Thursday night 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 in Martinsville, Virginia.
“We always want to pay attention to the negative, but the narrative that’s been out there now says that all NASCAR fans are racist and so forth, and that’s not entirely true,” Wallace said on the show, “I’ve fallen .. in the infield in Talladega, wherever it is, Daytona, Texas, Michigan, and I never knew if people were flying the Confederate flag. We were going out there for beer, having a good time and hanging out. there.
Bubba Wallace was also booed when introduced, and many cheered when it crashed. NASCAR still has a lot of work to do to back up its position. The Justice 4 Diversity group had signs along Speedway Blvd. after the race.
– Jenna Fryer (@JennaFryer) July 16, 2020
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