Now Comes The Tricky Part For NASCAR
Reese Witherspoon tweeted a high-five emoji for her A-list stamp of approval that NASCAR banned the Confederate flag.
NASCAR's decision to ban the Confederate flag from its races and venues grabbed headlines and stars like 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.
Kamara tweeted as the laps ticked off -- he requested NASCAR send him a car so he can take a spin -- and the sport suddenly had a slew of new, energized fans.
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. NASCAR will work to develop protocols around enforcement, though it's not known where the ban ends? Will security be tasked with policing every Rebel flag string bikini or scrape off all the bumper stickers?
Take off that shirt, or else!
Or else, what?
"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 in to the track.' But if we see something displayed at the track we're going to have reacted 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.
"It was really cool to see what Bubba was able to do," 2018 NASCAR champion Joey Logano said. "He should be proud of the movement he's made for the African-American community in our sport. He always has just by being here, but when you look at the comments he made on CNN the other day and then NASCAR completely answered it. Kudos to NASCAR. Kudos to Bubba for bringing it up and using his platform for something good."
Brad Daugherty, the lone black Cup Series team owner, told the AP he was "touched to the core" NASCAR banned the flag.
"While some might say, 'NASCAR, what took you so long?' I feel that is not the right response," he said. "This is a big step in the right direction and now is the time to envision the future. You can't be looking in the rear-view mirror when you are going 200 mph."
There were, of course, fans furious at the decision, howling on social media that their rights are being been trampled on and they would continue to wave the stars and bars. NASCAR helmet artist Jason Beam, who paints designs for Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, and other star drivers, tweeted that he did not support "erasing only particular elements of history" to please a particular audience.
Wallace ripped Beam on social media, tweeting: " You made it clear of where you stand in today's matter. All respect lost for ya dawg."
Johnson, the seven-time NASCAR champion, also cut ties with BEAMdesigns.
"Due to recent posts on social media I have decided to end my relationship with Beam Designs," Johnson tweeted.
Busch and Ryan Blaney also severed relationships with the helmet designer.
For weeks, NASCAR has been one of the only live U.S. sports on television, and ratings are up a tick in this most unusual of seasons. Through the first 11 races, Cup Series racing on FOX/FS1 has averaged a 2.38 share, up 1% over last year's average of 2.35 out of 44 market averages. Martinsville scored 1,711,000 viewers for a weeknight race on FS1.
And now comes the publicity surrounding the flag ban.
The surge of celebs engrossed with NASCAR could be a one-night-only instance or perhaps the star-power support signals the series is headed toward a revival.
"As far as the optics, NASCAR didn't have a choice," NASCAR historian Dan Pierce said. "I applaud the drivers for standing up. But the cynical person in me, especially when you're dealing with NASCAR, is, did they get the OK from their sponsors ahead of time or from NASCAR? You have to give them credit for making a stand, which isn't necessarily popular with a significant portion of their fan base."
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