Full disclosure: Much of what you’ll read in this post is disturbing.
As you surely have heard by now, NASCAR an the FBI have opened an investigation into who hung a noose in Darrell Wallace Jr.’s garage stall Sunday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway. The incident has galvanized people — especially those within the NASCAR community — from across the sports world; however, others have had far different reactions.
Among the more alarming responses came from Dustin Skinner, son of longtime NASCAR driver Mike Skinner. Dustin, currently a late model crew chief, has one race — a 2008 Truck Series event — on his NASCAR resume.
Take a look:
“Frankly I wish they would’ve tied (the noose) to (Wallace) and drug him around the pits because he has single-handedly destroyed what I grew up watching and cared about for 30 years now.”
Dustin Skinner made these public remarks about Bubba Wallace and the noose. He is the son of Mike Skinner and a late model crew chief; he himself hasn’t raced since 2008. pic.twitter.com/nMfYrpsp67
— Cassie Fambro (@CassieFambro) June 22, 2020
Skinner later attempted to walk back the comments.
@CassieFambro pic.twitter.com/HxNsN1Stbe
— Thomas Capuano (@TTMGModifiedguy) June 23, 2020
Here are a pair of statements from Mike Skinner:
Dustin Skinner Is my son and he’s an amazing father and amazing man he’s also a full-grown adult his views are not the same as Angie and myself we support Bubba have his whole career we don’t like what’s going on in our country anymore than anybody else
— Mike Skinner (@MSTheGunslinger) June 23, 2020
— Mike Skinner (@MSTheGunslinger) June 23, 2020
Finally, here’s a statement from Mike’s wife, Ainge Skinner:
“We pray Dustin changes his views,” Angie wrote in a letter. “He already broke down, apologized and realized how horrific and hurtful his comments were. He asked what to do and we suggested apologizing and learning from the outburst. Again, we pray that his views change. But it’s up to him to handle. Mike will not stop loving his son because the public demands him to. Mike will promote his positives and hope he continues to grow and love; reminding him of his good qualities and using love and positivity to change his attitude one day at a time.”
Whether the apologies from Skinner and the statements from his family are genuine obviously is up for debate.
