Kamara lauds Wallace's courage after NASCAR's trying week

Bubba Wallace wore a mask in colors of American flag, his hand over his heart as he stood for national anm.

This time, fans joined him.

In troubled and unprecedented times, a bit of rmalcy returned to sports Sunday. Fans — only 1,000 of m, mostly military members and ir guests — were at Homeste-Miami Speedway on Sunday, marking first time people were on that side of fence at a NASCAR race since coronavirus pandemic shut down sports worldwide.

Among those fans: New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara, who was wearing a T-shirt and cap with Wallace’s name on m. Wallace is only full-time black driver in Cup Series, and he has essentially become face of movement that led to NASCAR's decision last week to ban Confederate flag from tracks.

“He’s got weight of world on his shoulders, being only African-American driver and with what’s going on with climate of world right w and taking a stand,” Kamara said. “He’s backed into a corner right w, and it takes a lot of cour to be in place that he’s in and still say, ‘You kw what, I’m going to stand up for what’s right’ inste of just being quiet.”

re wasn’t a Confederate flag in sight. U.S. colors flew in center of backstretch, swaying gently in breeze.

Football legend Tony Boselli, a COVID-19 survivor, offered invocation, fitting at a race rescheduled by pandemic. Jon Seca, one of South Florida’s music superstars, performed “ Star-Spangled Banner” — like Boselli, doing so remotely.

With that, four jets from nearby Homeste Air Force Base roared in sky over track. applause that followed was just a smattering, a sliver of rmal ise levels inside ermous outdoor stium that has hosted racing for more than 20 years.

Still, cheers were back. Quieter cheers, but cheers neless.

“I don’t kw a thing about NASCAR,” said Jennifer McClellan, one of fans in attendance. “But I kw days like today are going to be talked about for a long time.”

Kamara thinks same way.

Sunday was his first time at a NASCAR race, but t his first time at a NASCAR track — he caught a touchdown pass in Tennessee’s 45-24 win over Virginia Tech at Bristol in 2016. He has kwn Wallace for a few years, though he confessed he didn't kw much about auto racing until w.

t only did he laud Wallace’s cour for speaking out he also h high praise for white drivers standing with Wallace.

“I’m just going to be honest and say it gives some of se white drivers, who are predominant in sport, a platform for m to be like, ‘You kw what? I kw it’s been wrong this whole time. Let me say right thing w,’” Kamara said. “Maybe before y weren’t comfortable to say it.”

flag issue was key for Kamara — who, when he was in college, lived in a dorm where Confederate flag was displayed two doors away.

“For NASCAR to come toger and be comfortable with where y are as a brand, as an organization to be like, ‘You kw, it’s been wrong this whole time’ ... you can’t really be m at m for that,” Kamara said.