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NASCAR's Bubba Wallace 'Proudly' Supports Athletes Protesting Racial Inequality
August 28, 2020
Bubba Wallace tweeted that he "proudly" backs professional athletes who have recently taken a pause from playing to protest systemic racism and police brutality days after Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, was shot seven times in the back by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Wallace is the only Black full-time driver in NASCAR's Cup Series.
The 26-year-old from Concord, North Carolina, took center stage amid protests in June when he called for NASCAR to ban Confederate flag displays at its events. A ban was enacted two days later.
Wallace has continuously spoken out for social justice, holding discussions with NASCAR behind the scenes and driving his No. 43 car with a "Black Lives Matter" paint scheme at Martinsville on June 10:
Eleven days later, a noose was found in Wallace's garage at Talladega Superspeedway for the Geico 500, with fears that Wallace may have been the target of a hate crime.
One day after the discovery, drivers pushed his No. 43 car up pit road before the Geico 500 with a host of other drivers, pit crew members and many more tailing behind.
The FBI later concluded that the noose was a pull that had been in the garage since October 2019, but the show of solidarity displayed the sport's unity behind Wallace in the face of systemic racism and social injustice.
NASCAR is headed to Daytona International Speedway for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Saturday.