Speedway

Honestly, I think it hurts Southern rednecks more to see their beloved NASCAR taken over by political correctness than it does seeing their revered Confederate statues being torn down.  While the noose in Bubba Wallace's garage turned out to be left over from last October, the sentiment lurked in the shadows.  Many Southern fans hold Bubba personally responsible for having their Dixie flags banned from racetracks.  As a result, all the NASCAR drivers walked with Bubba as he took the pole position at Talladega last weekend.  This is one of the signature racetracks on the circuit, and not surprisingly some person still found a clever way to fly a Dixie flag about the track.

Stock car racing holds a special place in the Southern heart. There's nothing rednecks loved more than to beef up their cars and try them out on dirt racetracks all around the South.  Elvis made the sport famous in Speedway.  He was an avid racer himself.  Oddly enough no Dixie flags in the movie.  That would come later when the hit television show, Dukes of Hazzard, featured a modified Dodge Charger named General Lee.  After that the Stars and Bars popped up everywhere at racetracks.

The whole point of the sporting event was to feature muscle cars in the 60s and 70s when the sport rose to prominence.  Even with the oil crisis in 1973, popularity grew and soon it became an international event.  The cars hurtle along the racetrack at breakneck speeds, thanks to heavily modified engines.  Only the bulky frames stop the drivers from hitting the same speeds as Indy or Formula 1 cars, but they wouldn't still be "stock cars" if they went with more aerodynamic designs.  As a result, the race presents a challenge like no other, which is why so many drivers like to compete.

But, Southerners still consider it their event and were none too happy when NASCAR chose to bring down the Stars and Bars in the wake of all the social unrest in the country.  One of its featured drivers, Bubba Wallace, chose to paint his car in the spirit of Black Lives Matter when the racetracks reopened earlier this month, and in an interview said he would feel more comfortable if the Dixie flag came down.  It did so the next day. He drives Richard Petty's revered number 43, and has gotten full backing of the sport's massive legend.

The Dixie flag has never been anything more than a symbol of rebellion despite what all the Southern armchair historians like to tell you.  They don't see the incongruity in waving a Confederate battle flag next to the American flag. The Stars and Bars is a vehemently divisive symbol.  It was from its inception on the eve of the Civil War to the time it was taken down in 1865 when the Union troops had subdued the last of the unruly states and freed the few remaining slaves in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865.  Its "heritage" has since been cloaked in references to the antebellum South, but its only purpose was to fly in opposition to the Stars and Stripes.  It has no place at any public gatherings.

For these Southern rednecks, the quandary now is do you continue to support your favorite event that no longer lets you fly your flag prominently or boycott it?  For many Southerners this is a very bitter pill to swallow.