Trump’s Daytona: NASCAR fans revved up for presidential visit
DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. — Stroll through the Daytona infield and fans can grab a seat next to President Donald Trump and get a sweet taste of impeachment.
Debi Ringhaver is mixing cocktails for curious NASCAR fans who stop in their tracks at the sight of her lifesize mannequin of Trump, chilling on a lawn chair, holding a book titled “The Truth Behind Trump“and wearing a red “Donald Trump 2020“baseball cap.
Hundreds have stopped by her RV this week for a selfie or a chat or a sip of “The Impeachment,” a blend of peach vodka, champagne and peach nectar. The “Subpoena Colada” also is in the blender, but Ringhaver concedes “it’s just a pina colada with a better name.”
Ringhaver placed a book in Trump’s grip because so many of her friends sat on his lap when she kept him at her Florida home, they broke his hands.
“They get real enthusiastic,“she said, laughing. “They get kind of excited about having Donald at the ranch.”
NASCAR fans are ecstatic about the real deal crashing the Daytona 500 this weekend.
When Trump arrives Sunday at Daytona International Speedway to deliver the command for drivers to start their engines, the race’s grand marshal might as well be at one of his campaign rallies. High above banners flying for NASCAR stars like Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson, Trump flags wave atop row after row of flashy RVs.
NASCAR, which has a complicated relationship with politics and social issues, doesn’t dare sell the kind of merchandise the president’s loyalists wear to the track. One guy standing in a food line wore a T-shirt with Trump’s image superimposed over a “Sons of Anarchy“homage, tattooed arms folded and smiling as part of the 2020 MAGA Chapter. Two others in a golf cart stopped in front of a makeshift bar in Trump/Pence shirts, getting shoutouts from fellow revelers.
Matt Mansfield, lounging in the infield in nothing but a pair of athletic shorts and camouflage Crocs, was pumped for the president.
“I don’t know if he’s a NASCAR fan,” Mansfield said of Trump. “I think it’s more for the voter base. Get some more votes. ‘Oh yeah, Trump’s here, woo hoo!’”
Fan after fan asked about Trump’s presence were thrilled he was attending the race. Kristi Bodnaruk, who has attended every Daytona 500 since 2005, was one of the few dissenters in the infield.
“I’m annoyed,“she said. “It’s Trump. Eh. It’s all show. They’re Republicans. They’re all from the Midwest. It makes sense. But, eh.“
Trump is the second sitting president to attend the Daytona 500, joining George W. Bush in 2004.
Trump’s dip into sports has been mixed. He has tangled with some of the biggest names in sports over social justice protests during the national anthem, racial issues and White House visits for champions. He was booed at the World Series in Washington, but cheered at the Army-Navy game as well as the national championship game between Clemson and LSU.
Auto racing is a completely different ballgame: Trump has hosted previous NASCAR champions at the White House and last October awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to motorsports giant Roger Penske.