NASCAR’s social stance is a carefully crafted corporate opinion designed to appeal to the untapped LGBTQ market, while not offending its conservative fan-base. NASCAR allowed the governor of Texas to wave the green flag at a marquee event, and are now back-tracking and apologizing.

…as recently as the NASCAR All-Star Race, Texas governor Greg Abbott waved the honorary green flag to signal the start of the race. Abbott has made headlines in recent months as he directs citizens to report parents of transgender children for abuse, introduces Texas’ own version of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, deems books touching on LGBTQ+ subjects “pornography”, enabling restrictive voting measures that target communities of color, funding the border wall…

Elizabeth Blackstock, JALOPNIK

Oh, NASCAR, it is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.

3 thoughts on “Oh, NASCAR”

  1. I have a great deal of admiration for NASCAR’s efforts to become a more inclusive sport, but it is a monumental task, considering it was the southern “good ol’ boys” favourite entertainment for decades. It is natural they will step on some toes during the process. But hey, they are even trying to make their cars look more like a “GT class”. I applaud them, even if NASCAR is not my cup of tea.

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  2. Agreed. NASCAR’s “redneck” image doesn’t go away overnight. Those confederate flags in the crowd when Trump did the parade laps at the Daytona 500 didn’t help. But at least NASCAR is trying to be more open and accessible to ALL race fans.

    https://demaras.com/2020/11/06/car-guy/#jp-carousel-26997
    https://demaras.com/2020/11/06/car-guy/

    However, what drives be crazy is that NASCAR felt the need to apologize for having the governor of Texas wave the green flag at the previous week’s race. Abbott may hold opinions that the LGBTQ community considers offensive, but he’s not Hitler. He didn’t get up there and ‘sieg heil’ the crowd. Was it really necessary for NASCAR to sound so weak and apologetic?

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    1. I agree with you, there was no need to be that apologetic. I am a big supporter of the LGBTQ community but sometimes I think they can be a little too demanding. It is like the whole world must adapt to their needs as fast as we can.

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