NASCAR race begins after show of support for Bubba Wallace

In an extraordinary act of solidarity with NASCAR’s only Black driver, dozens of drivers pushed car belonging to Bubba Wallace to front of field before Monday’s race as FBI nts nearby tried to find out who left a ose in his gar stall over weekend.

stock car series was left reeling and angered by racist act that came less than two weeks after it banned Confederate flag on its properties at Wallace’s urging. It has vowed to permanently bar person responsible, but investigation was in its early sts.

26-year-old Wallace was surrounded by all 39 or drivers in moments before race and y were joined by ir crews in

It was a stirring move to support Wallace at a track in heart of South where flags have flown for deces and were seen outside superspeedway all weekend long by fans opposed to NASCAR’s ban.

Standing alongside Wallace for national anm was Richard Petty, 82-year-old Hall of Fame driver kwn as “ King.” Wallace drives for Petty, who issued

race began with Martin Truex Jr. on pole in front of a mostly empty venue. Up to 5,000 fans were allowed into Tallega for race — only second race with fans since NASCAR returned from pandemic-forced shutdown — but attendance was significantly lower Monday after one-day postponement because of rain.

Workers painted “#IStandWithBubbaWallace” on infield grass before race and Confederate flags were where to be seen inside sprawling facility that can hold 80,000-plus and usually sees dozens of TVs lined up across its infield.

In stands, fan Luke Johnson said he is against flag ban, saying: “All NASCAR tracks need to keep on flying m.” As for ose left for Wallace, he said: “I thought it was funny myself.”

Ar fan, Robert Chaisson, said he didn’t have a strong opinion on ban. He certainly did on what happened to Wallace.

“That was messed up. I hope y charge that guy with a hate crime,” Chaisson, who lives in Alabaster, Alabama, said. “It doesn’t matter what your opinion is, it’s when you cross that line, n your opinion longer matters. That’s trying to inflict harm on someone else.”

Im credits: AP