NASCAR drivers demonstrated their support for colleague Bubba Wallace, the only African-American driver in the league, by pushing his car to the starting line before the Talladega Cup race in Alabama, a few days after a hangman’s noose was discovered in his race garage. (The FBI investigated and announced the rope had been there for months and was not aimed at Wallace.) NASCAR races are a social institution in the U.S. South and have often been accompanied by fan displays of the Confederate flag – limiting the league’s appeal outside the South. Wallace earlier urged the league to prohibit the flag at its races, and at the start of this virus-shortened season, the league announced the ban – though racism is still on display at fans’ tailgate parties in the parking lot. Wallace was overwhelmed by the support of his fellow drivers; all were relieved that he wasn’t targeted – and NASCAR took a big step to remake its public image as an inclusive brand of entertainment. (John Bazemore/AP)
