In a few different ways, the NASCAR world made an effort to speak out about racism Sunday before the Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Most notably, some of the sport’s biggest stars — like Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson — helped make a scripted video condemning racial inequality and encouraging people to listen and better educate themselves as the first step to help end injustice. In the generalized call to action, they said “the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery and countless others in the black community are heartbreaking and can no longer be ignored.” Drivers shared the video on social media Sunday, and FOX included it in its pre-race broadcast, along with a statement from NASCAR president Steve Phelps.
But beyond the previously recorded video, there were a couple other pre-race moments that stood out. First, driver Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. — the only black driver at NASCAR’s top level — wore a t-shirt with “I Can’t Breathe” and “Black Lives Matter” written on it.
And during the traditional prayer and national anthem, one NASCAR official, Kirk Price, took a knee. It’s believed to be the first time a competitor or official has kneeled for the anthem in the NASCAR Cup Series.
“All I could think about, of course, is Mr. Floyd and his family,” Price told The Charlotte Observer on Sunday. “As well as the others that have passed from brutality from police and hostility in the world.”
As The Observer noted, Price is a 49-year-old technical inspector and race official who served in the Army for three years and is an alumnus of the Drive for Diversity program, which helps women and people of color break into the mostly white, male sport.
Price — who said he supports nationwide peaceful protests but “not at all the violence and the rioting” — kneeled for the invocation with his fist in the air. And when the national anthem immediately followed, he continued kneeling and put his hand to his head for a military salute.
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“I fully respect the flag. I fully do,” Price said. “That’s not what the issue is here. The issue is African Americans being oppressed for so long under the flag.”
“I respect everyone’s opinion,” Price continued. “But to be honest with you, I know what the flag stands for and I know about Black people being oppressed because I am one.”
Protest supporters and athletes, particularly NFL players, have explained for years that the peaceful demonstration is not about the flag but about racism, oppression and police brutality.
Price’s gesture is significant in NASCAR for several reasons in addition to presumably being the first official or competitor to protest during the prayer or anthem.
NASCAR has a controversial history with racial issues, especially as a mostly white sport. The governing body discourages people from flying the confederate flag at races, but the symbol of slavery and oppression is often still present.
In 2017 as people continued debating athletes kneeling for the national anthem as a way to protest racial injustice and police brutality, NASCAR team owners Richard Petty and Richard Childress said they’d fire employees who took a knee.
Seven-time Cup Series champion Petty told USA TODAY Sports about national anthem protests: “Anybody that don’t stand up for that ought to be out of the country. Period.” Childress added that if an employee kneeled for the song that he’d “get you a ride on a Greyhound bus when the national anthem is over.”
And most recently, driver Kyle Larson was fired in April after using the N-word during an iRacing event — an incident some in the industry believe set the sport back a decade.
Read more about Kirk Price’s peaceful protest in The Charlotte Observer.
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