NASCAR's Governing Body Approves Kyle Weatherman's #BackTheBlue Paint Scheme

Days after Bubba Wallace took to the track with a Black Lives Matter livery, the organization has signed off on Xfinity Series driver Kyle Weatherman's request to race with a "Back The Blue" paint job.

According to USA Today's Michelle Martinelli, Weatherman's team described the look as a "#ThinBlueLine" paint scheme, and Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports noted there were rumors NASCAR would not allow Weatherman to drive at Homestead-Miami Speedway while sporting the look.

As Martinelli points out, the Mike Harmon Racing No. 47 car featured a "Trump 2020" scheme for the series opener at Daytona earlier this season as well as a "Trump-Pence" look at Atlanta Motor Speedway last week, though Joe Nemechek drove the car on both occasions.

The timing of the move is sure to cause a stir given the sport's recent steps to combat racism in the wake of protests across the county that began after George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis police custody in late May. Not only did Wallace decide to drive in a Black Lives Matter livery, but NASCAR as a whole also announced it was banning Confederate flags from its events and racetracks immediately.

Weatherman tweeted that he supports "black men and women of this country" while also supporting first responders. That statement came after an initial tweet in which Weatherman focused solely on praising first responders because of "a lot going on in the world right now."

The driver pointed to his uncle, a firefighter, as inspiration for the paint job, yet as Martinelli notes, the scheme seems to reference only police officers.

That this decision comes less than a week after Wallace made his statement on the track may only increase tensions across the sport.