NASCAR praises anthem tradition
Organization also supports right of peaceful protests
NASCAR officials, caught between the sentiments of President Trump and its most popular driver, released a statement Monday that praised its long-held tradition of the national anthem’s place in its prerace ceremonies but also affirmed the right of peaceful protest.
Thrust into the aggressive discourse between prominent athletes and Trump since his speech Friday night calling protesting NFL players “sons of (expletives),” the racing series did not disavow Trump’s support.
Protests by NFL players were widespread Sunday after Trump’s speech in Alabama implored the league’s owners to fire players who refused to stand during the national anthem. But the president singled out NASCAR for praise on Monday morning, further entrenching the sport into the political divide after some NASCAR team owners said Sunday that they would terminate employees who knelt during the anthem.
“So proud of NASCAR and its supporters and fans,” Trump tweeted. “They won’t put up with disrespecting our Country or our Flag - they said it loud and clear!”
NASCAR did not mention the president’s support in a statement Monday, instead leaning on its tradition of sweeping prerace anthems while acknowledging
First Amendment protections.
“Sports are a unifying influence in our society, bringing people of differing backgrounds and beliefs together. Our respect for the national anthem has always been a hallmark of our prerace events. Thanks to the sacrifices of many, we live in a country of unparalleled freedoms and countless liberties, including the right to peacefully express one’s opinion.”
NASCAR’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., also weighed in Monday, coming out in support of the right to protest.
Earnhardt, who will retire from full-time racing at the end of the season, said on his Twitter account that Americans are “granted rights” to conduct “peaceful protests” and quoted President Kennedy’s speech from March 1962: “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable-JFK.”
A day earlier high-profile NASCAR team owners Richard Petty and Richard Childress were unequivocal that if members of their organizations took a knee during the anthem, there would be consequences.
“Get you a ride on a Greyhound bus when the national anthem is over,” Childress, who was Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s team owner during six of his seven championships, responded when asked what he would do if one of his employees protested during the anthem.
Petty, who won a record-tying seven championships as a driver, said he would fire any employee who didn’t stand for the anthem.
“Anybody that don’t stand up for that ought to be out of the country. Period,” Petty said.
Those statements put an intense spotlight on NASCAR throughout the day, and the series continued to be a huge topic on social media on Monday.
NASCAR executive VP and chief racing development officer Steve O’Donnell was asked about the controversy surrounding anthem protests during a Monday morning appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
“If you look at our history, we’ve always as a sport demonstrated a respect for the Ameri- can flag and the freedom it represents,” O’Donnell said. “We celebrate the servicemen and women who have sacrificed to be part of that. That’s part of the sport. From our standpoint, we view ourselves as a sport and want to continue to celebrate the flag but respect others’ opinions.”