When Bubba Wallace takes the track on Wednesday for NASCAR‘s Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway, he will have a car that will catch the attention of fans watching at home. This week Wallace’s paint scheme for his No. 43 car was revealed and the theme is Black Lives Matter. The car will be black and will have the hashtags #blacklivesmatter on the sides. And on the hood, there will be a painting of a black hand holding a while hand to show unity.
Wallace talked about the car on Richard Petty Motorsports Twitter account. He’s looking forward to competing on Wednesday while making a statement at the same time. “I’m excited about this opportunity to run hashtag Black Live Matter car for Martinsville, Wallace said in a Twitter video. “With this statement that we have right here that we’re about to make with running this race car, being on live television on Fox, it’s going to speak volumes to what I stand for, but also what the initiative that NASCAR is trying to push.”
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Tomorrow night at @MartinsvilleSwy, @BubbaWallace will run a special #BlackLivesMatter paint scheme promoting racial equality. #CompassionLoveUnderstanding
Learn more: pic.twitter.com/MHWwNzIzFJ
— Richard Petty Motorsports (@RPMotorsports) June 9, 2020
Wallace continued: “We knew the Martinsville race was open, we did not sell sponsorship for that, and it sparked an idea of, ‘Why not run a #blackout car?’ The team brought that idea to me, and I jumped all over it.” Wallace is taking a stand while the protests of racial and social injustice continue on across the country. Along with his car, Wallace has been speaking out against racism as he recently talked to CNN about wanting NASCAR to ban Confederate flags at races.
“No one should feel uncomfortable when they come to a NASCAR race, Wallace said. “So it starts with Confederate flags. Get them out of here. They have no place for them.” Wallace knows many fans won’t like the idea of not having Confederate flags at races. However, he believes changes are needed in order to get past systemic racism. “There’s going to be a lot of angry people that carry those flags proudly, but it’s time for change,” he added. “We have to change that, and I encourage NASCAR — we will have those conversations to remove those flags.”
