Flag ban big win for racer
Driver proud of historical impact; worries about backlash from fans
Two days after NASCAR announced it was banning the Confederate flag from its events, Bubba Wallace said he probably would remember this week’s decision more than any victory of his on the track.
Two days after NASCAR announced it was banning the Confederate flag from all of the sport’s events, Bubba Wallace said he probably will remember this week’s decision more than any triumph he ever experiences again on a race track.
Wallace might have finished 11th Wednesday night at Martinsville Speedway, but getting rid of the Confederate flag earlier in the day felt an awfully lot like winning the checkered flag.
“This was definitely the biggest race of my career,” Wallace said Friday during a national Zoom conference call with reporters. “There was so much histori
cal impact and movement behind this race that we had just had that it just overpowered everything else that I’ve gone through.
“Yeah, it felt like a win.”
Wallace, 26, the only Black full-time Cup series driver, is credited with helping NASCAR make the change to remove a symbol that has caused so much dissension throughout the country, but has been long-linked to the sport because of stock car racing's Southern roots.
On Sunday, amid ongoing national and worldwide protests concerning police brutality following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, while under police custody May 25, Wallace called attention to the movement by wearing a shirt that read “I Can’t Breath/Black Lives Matter” for that afternoon’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
A day later, he appeared on CNN and encouraged NASCAR to disassociate itself from the Confederate flag, telling host Don Lemon, “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.”
On Tuesday, Wallace and Richard Petty Motorsports unveiled a new black paint scheme for his No.43 Chevrolet for the following night’s race at Martinsville in Virginia. Instead of the usual red and yellow brand featuring his primary sponsor, McDonald’s, the car carried the slogan #blacklivesmatter over its rear wheels. On the hood was a black fist and white fist clasped in unison with the words “Compassion, Love, Understanding.”
The next day, NASCAR made its official announcement, distancing itself forever from the Confederate symbol.
“The presence of the Confederate flag at NASCAR events run contrary to our commitment to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all fans, our competitors, and our industry,” NASCAR’s statement said. “Bringing people together around a love for racing and the community that it creates is what makes our fans and sport special. The display of the Confederate flag will be prohibited from all NASCAR events and properties.”
Wallace has felt the burden of carrying NASCAR’s new message to its fans and although it’s been a heavy one, he knows the important of it resting on his shoulders.
“It’s definitely been a lot. It’s mentally taxing,” he said. “But it’s that part of the pedestal that you sign up for. It doesn’t say that on the front page, the book of being an athlete or an icon of a sport. It doesn’t say that on the front page of what you have to go through; it’s just part of it. It’s in the fine print, the underlying fine print there that you have to go through.
“When you sign up to become something, you’re signing up to become something larger than yourself, represent something more than yourself. I’m learning how to manage that along with the racing side of things.”
Wallace said he’s eager for fans to start being allowed to attend races again because he’s curious to see what the demographics will look like following the ban of the Confederate symbol. He knows things might be uneasy with some fans, at least at first.
“I like to go out and sometimes spend time in the field with fans, and I haven’t been ridiculed against, but I know that’s going to change now,” he said. “I have to be careful what I do. That’s kind of the sad world we live in. My dad texted me and he was proud what I was doing on and off the racetrack, but he was worried about my safety, going out in public and whatnot.
“It’s just crazy you have to think about that side of things, so you definitely have to watch your back now. You can’t be like that outspoken guy, just a happy-go-lucky guy that will go take a trip on my golf cart or my long board down into the infield and do whatever and have a good time.”
Asked what his message would be to the fans that brought Confederate flags to the track in the past and might not consider returning to NASCAR because of the ban, Wallace quoted one of his friends, who happens to be a longtime ESPN auto racing reporter.
“I was looking at what Marty Smith said to the fans that were upset,” Wallace said. “It was, ‘We are not closing a door on you, we’re opening up a door for many others.’ That speaks volumes right there. … What he said there was spot-on. It’s not something we’re trying to take out of your daily life. What I want is for people to not feel uncomfortable.”
Fellow Cup Series driver, Tucsonborn Alex Bowman, said he was proud that his sport rid itself of an iconic image that has brought so much division, especially now in a world of change.
“Yeah, for sure. I definitely stand with NASCAR. I think there’s no reason to have anything that makes anybody uncomfortable to come to a NASCAR race,” Bowman, who also appeared on Friday’s Zoom conference call, said. “It’s a family event, we want to put on a great show and include everybody. Any fan that wants to come I think is who we need to include, so I’m with them on that 100 percent.”
NASCAR had pleaded with its fans to stop displaying Confederate flags and images relating to it in the weeks after a white supremacist murdered nine black people at a Charleston, South Carolina church in 2015. The message, however, got lost as fans continued to fly their flags high atop their campers in and around race tracks, especially in the South.
Now that it’s finally and formally been eradicated by NASCAR, it’s Wallace’s hope that fans can somehow meet in the middle, find peace, and be able to move on together as one. He referenced the words on the front of his car at Martinsville: Compassion. Love. Understanding.
Born in Mobile, Alabama and reared in Concord, North Carolina, Wallace said he hasn’t experienced much racial bias or hate as a young man simply because of the color of his skin.
“I didn’t have it as bad as other African-Americans in the community,” he said. “One, I stay home. I’m lame. I sit on the couch. I’m lazy. I love doing that. It’s my favorite thing to do. The encounters I had were very few, but they were powerful. The negative encounters I’ve had with law enforcement were very few, but they stood out. It definitely left a toll on me and it’s something that comes back full circle when all of this is being talked about and you’re discriminated against because of skin color.
“The comments like, ‘Can you afford this car?’ It’s just like, C’mon, really? What year are we in? You don’t know me. You don’t know what I do. You don’t know how much money I make. It doesn’t give you the right to ask that question, but I get what you’re insinuating. You think because I’m an AfricanAmerican and drive a really nice car, you wonder what I do? Do I sell drugs or whatever it is. It’s something I’ve gone through and it’s unfortunate for me to be a part of it, but then I think about how bad others have it every day.”
As Wallace prepares for the Cup Series’ next race, the Dixie Vodka 400 on Sunday in Homestead, Florida, he knows it will be a chore to be physically and mentally ready for the challenge. Being a NASCAR drive is demanding enough, but now that he’s become a vocal proponent to hopeful change, it’s been a mentally-draining experience as well.
It’s wearing on him, but he refuses to let it bring him down or get too emotional.
“I haven’t had one of those moments,” he said. “It’s definitely been a lot, but knowing what I’m standing up for and being a leader in this message, the positive stress has made me feel good about things and not worked me down too much. But just he work that’s going into it is a lot and it’s taken away from what I’d like to be doing physically to stay in shape, but it’s part of it.”