NASCAR’s show will go on, but that doesn’t mean motorsports are driving away from recent events.
Darrell Wallace Jr. insisted Friday NASCAR’s decision to stage races this weekend doesn’t mean they’re abandoning their commitment to fighting for racial and social justice.
NBA, WNBA, MLB, MLS and NHL schedules have been disrupted this week after players and teams decided not to play as a protest in the aftermath of the shooting of Jacob Blake. NASCAR will hold its Xfinity Series races and Cup Series races Friday and Saturday nights, respectively, at Daytona International Speedway, but Wallace reminded his Twitter followers where he and his sport stand in the ongoing struggles.
Wallace, 26, is the only Black driver in NASCAR’s top series and its first full-time Black driver since Wendell Scott in the 1970s. He was instrumental in NASCAR banning the Confederate flag, and his advocacy for the Black Lives Matter movement has made him one of NASCAR’s most prominent figures in recent months.
Perhaps it’s fitting Wallace is the one who most forcefully issued NASCAR’s continuing promise to the cause of justice.
