On the same day NASCAR banned the confederate flag, Bubba Wallace, NASCAR’s only black driver, raced his No. 43 car with a Black Lives Matter paint scheme.
The hood featured a black hand and white hand gripping in solidarity with the message “Compassion, Love, Understanding” written below. That same phrase was written on the back of the car, and the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter was painted on the left and right sides.
Wallace, 26, also wore an “I Can’t Breathe” t-shirt and an American flag mask before Wednesday night’s race at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia.
“Bravo. Props to NASCAR and everybody involved,” Wallace told Fox Sports before the race regarding the Confederate flag ban.
Wallace finished 11th in the race. Earlier in the week, Wallace called for a NASCAR ban on the Confederate flag amid nationwide protests against police brutality and racial injustice following the police-related death of George Floyd.
“No one should feel uncomfortable when they come to a NASCAR race,” Wallace told CNN.