Kevin Harvick is the latest NASCAR star to defend Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. and denounce Donald Trump’s criticism of the Cup Series’ only African American driver.
Trump on Monday called on Wallace to apologize for last month’s noose incident, which the United States President falsely called a “hoax.” He also falsely claimed the controversy at Talladega Superspeedway, coupled with NASCAR’s recent banning of the Confederate flag, has resulted in historically low TV ratings for the sport.
Harvick on Tuesday reacted to Trump’s tweet during an appearance on ESPN’s “Golic and Wingo” show.
“There’s definitely some misinformed information inside of that tweet that doesn’t represent anything that’s going on,” Harvick said. “Obviously, the TV ratings are going up. I think, when you sit in NASCAR’s shoes, and you look at the circumstances and the reaction that they had (to the Wallace incident) at Talladega … If you do that any other way and it doesn’t work out the way that it did, the circumstances are way worse on the other side. I support everything that we’re doing. I take my kids to the race track when they let me, pretty much every other weekend. And I want people to be able to go to our race tracks and feel comfortable in the grandstands.
“ … A misinformed tweet is not gonna change the unity and the direction of our sport and our garage, and the way that we feel about each other.”
“A misinformed tweet is not gonna change the unity and the direction of our sport and our garage, and the way that we feel about each other.”
–@KevinHarvick on the tweet that President Trump sent about NASCAR's ratings and Bubba Wallace. pic.twitter.com/BjKgtsZRPE
— Golic and Wingo (@GolicAndWingo) July 7, 2020
Wallace took the high road Monday in his own reaction to Trump’s tweet. NASCAR echoed the 26-year-old’s words in its own statement.
Despite criticism from many fans, Wallace currently leads NASCAR’s All-Star fan voting.
