TALLADEGA, Ala. — Ryan Blaney held onto the lead after a restart with two laps to go Monday, earning his second straight win at Talladega Superspeedway …
TALLADEGA, Ala. — Ryan Blaney held onto the lead after a restart with two laps to go Monday, earning his second straight win at Talladega Superspeedway on a day that began with NASCAR drivers throwing their support behind Bubba Wallace and him address fans afterward.
The racing was overshadowed by an extraordinary act of solidarity with NASCAR’s only Black driver. Dozens of drivers pushed Wallace’s car to the front of the field before Monday’s race as FBI agents tried to find out who left a noose in his garage stall over the weekend.
He was emotional after finishing 14th and spending time in the top five, slapping hands with a group of mostly African-American fans, many wearing shirts with messages supporting Black Live Matters.
”I’m proud to stand where I’m at.… This sport is changing,” Wallace said. “The deal that happened [Saturday] I wanted to show whoever it was, you are not going to take away my smile.”
The stock car series was left reeling and angered by the racist act that came less than two weeks after it banned the Confederate flag on its properties at Wallace’s urging. It has vowed to permanently bar the person responsible, but the investigation was in its early stages.
The 26-year-old Wallace was surrounded by all 39 other drivers in the moments before the race and they were joined by their crews in a march down pit road as they pushed his No.
