NASCAR clearly hasn’t learned anything from the backlash against the woke ideology.
If anything, NASCAR is offending what’s left of its fan base by embracing wokeness.
And now a fan-favorite NASCAR driver got suspended indefinitely for liking this one meme on social media.
Popular and rising NASCAR driver Noah Gragson was suspended indefinitely for the “crime” of liking a meme about George Floyd on social media.
“The King” goes woke
Voted fan favorite last year, Gragson suspended indefinitely on Saturday by his team, the Legacy Motor Club.
Legacy Motor Club is a partnership owned by Maury Gallagher that includes all-star driver Jimmie Johnson and the legendary driver Richard “The King” Petty.
“We have made the decision to suspend Noah Gragson effective immediately regarding his actions that do not represent the values of our team,” Legacy Motor Club wrote in a statement.
While one could make the argument that the team had the right to suspend Gragson, the fact that they did it over liking a meme is shocking.
After all, Petty was thought to be a conservative and even ran for office shortly after his retirement from racing.
The actions by Legacy shows just how far NASCAR has fallen over the past few years.
But in this case, it was more than just Legacy Motor Club that acted against Gragson.
Another suspension and an apology
NASCAR not only agreed with Legacy’s decision to suspend Gragson, but also added to the punishment and suspended him indefinitely.
“NASCAR fully supports Legacy Motor Club’s decision to suspend Noah Gragson,” the once proud racing association stated. “Following his actions on social media, NASCAR has determined that Gragson has violated the Member Conduct section of the 2023 NASCAR Rule Book and has placed him under indefinite suspension.”
Gragson issued an apology for liking the meme following his suspension.
“I am disappointed in myself for my lack of attention and actions on social media,” Gragson wrote on Twitter. “I understand the severity of this situation. I love and appreciate everyone. I try to treat everyone equally no matter who they are. I messed up plain and simple.”
Gragson’s “crime” was allegedly liking a meme about George Floyd on Instagram.
TMZ reported that “the image shows the live-action version of Sebastian the crab from The Little Mermaid, with Floyd’s face superimposed. A caption reads, ‘Under Da Knee, Under Da Knee.'”
As insensitive as the meme may or may not be, to take action against someone for simply liking an image is beyond the pale.
Of course, NASCAR has gone to great extremes lately to offend its fan base.
A little over two weeks after Floyd’s death in 2020, NASCAR announced it was banning the Confederate Flag at all of its events and properties.
“The presence of the Confederate Flag at NASCAR events runs contrary to our commitment to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all fans, our competitors, and our industry,” NASCAR said at the time. “Bringing people together around a love for racing and the community it creates is what makes fans and sport special.”
This was a ridiculous action from a sport that was founded by Southern moonshiners.
But this was soon followed by NASCAR’s announcement that it would fly the gay pride flag at events.
The end of a promising career
This was to be Gragson’s first full season racing in the Cup series, and he was 33rd in the standings after the first 22 races.
The 25-year old Gragson was awarded last year with the Xfinity series “Most Popular Driver” award.
Last December, in an article about Gragson, JR Motorsports wrote that “the Las Vegas native won eight races in the No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet in 2022, including a record-tying run of four consecutive in the month of September. He led the team not just in victories, but also set an organizational record with 1,010 laps led along with a series-high 21 top-five finishes.”
A very promising career was just blackflagged over a meme.
Patriot Political will keep you up-to-date on any developments to this ongoing story.
