Reagan D. Stuart III

I've been a NASCAR fan since I was a kid and now I'm in my mid 30s. NASCAR has betrayed their fans for decades. People who haven't been around Nascar need to understand that news outlets have been misleading them about the Confederate flag. The Confederate battle flags that are seen at races are not put there by Nascar. These flags that have been seen for decades are flags that are flown on top of trucks and campers that are privately owned by fans. This flag is a sign of pride for those who wave it, just as a rainbow flag is a sign of pride for those who choose to wave that. Both flags can be viewed as a sign of pride as well as being offensive. Either way, free speech should allow you to fly whatever flag you like. For the vast majority of southerners who fly the Confederate battle flag it is not a symbol of hate. The flag is a symbol to honor fallen ancestors who fought in largest battles in American history. That southern spirit easily carried over to Nascar fans because unlike most American sports, countless racecar drivers have given their life fighting to win. That is what the flag means and stands for to southern fans. Nascar tried to abandon the south about 20 years ago and initially race attendences would be at full capacity and often times would have 100k+ fans. Here we are 20 years later (before coronavirus) and race grandstands are almost always at less than half capacity, and most tracks have even removed tens of thousands of seats (so the crowds on TV look bigger). NASCAR is a joke of what it once was when they abandoned old beloved southern tracks because they were money hungry. NASCAR abandoned their core! NASCAR abandoned their base! And for what? When the virus hit it appeared they they we're trying to the right thing and get their old fans back by holding more races at Darlington and even a virtual race at North Wilkesboro. This was the right thing for them to do, and they knew it! Many non-nascar fans who visit a race at Martinsville or Darlington would be shocked by the facilities and grandstands as being dated and dirty, but these kinds of old tracks are the ones that are the most beloved by fans and drivers alike. One can go to Daytona or Charlotte and have an experience similar to what one would see at an NFL game, gourmet steaks and box seats but that's not what the core of NASCAR cares about. The core of NASCAR is coming to see something a little more gritty, and that's what made Dale Earnhardt and Nascar appeal to people all across America. America loved the rawness of it, for it's good and it's bad. With the flag ban, Nascar has yet again abandoned it's base and for what? For liberal politians who want to ban combustible engines? Good luck Nascar, when you take the SOUTH out of SOUTHERN all you have left is an urn!