NASCAR owners will fire any driver, crew or team member for NFL anthem protests
Two NASCAR owners told the Associated Press they would fire any team member participating in an anthem protest.
NFL team owners may be standing behind their players’ First Amendment rights to assemble and free speech, but at least two NASCAR owners have expressed a zero-tolerance policy for protesting during the national anthem.
Sunday afternoon, the Associated Press reported that “no drivers, crew or other team members participated in a protest during the national anthem” at the NASCAR Cup series race. When asked, two owners, Richard Childress and Richard Petty, both confirmed that an anthem protest would lead to the firing of any member of their team.
Specifically, Childress said protesting will “get you a ride on a Greyhound bus” and that “anybody that works for me should respect the country we live in. So many people gave their lives for it. This is America.”
Petty, a Hall of Famer driver himself, said “Anybody that don’t stand up for the anthem oughta be out of the country. Period. What got ’em where they’re at? The United States.” Petty also confirmed to the AP that a protester on his team would be fired.
However, a third owner, Chip Ganassi took a different stance, echoing Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin’s assertion that “we’re not going to let divisive times or divisive individuals affect our agenda.”
The Steelers chose to abstain from any kind of statement (itself a statement) by remaining in the locker room during the national anthem. Alejandro Villaneuva was the one Pittsburgh player to make himself visible in the tunnel and salute the flag.
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More than 100 NFL players demonstrated during the national anthem at Sunday’s games, taking a knee or a seat to protest white supremacy and police brutality. (An important sticking point is that those taking a knee are not protesting the anthem, they’re protesting a system of oppression during the anthem.) The increase in expression this week can be tied to Trump’s comments Friday evening in Alabama (and on Twitter each day since) calling for NFL owners to fire players who protest.
So far, no NFL players have been fired for protesting. But apparently, in NASCAR, they would receive no such liberty.