Confederate flag flown over race for second time since flag was banned by NASCAR

A plane pulls a Confederate battle flag over Bristol Motor Speedway before the NASCAR All-Star auto race in Bristol, Tenn, Wednesday, July 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) (Mark Humphrey, Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

BRISTOL, Tennessee – A plane towing a confederate banner flew over NASCAR’s All-Star race in Bristol, Tennessee on Wednesday, just over a month after the company banned the flag from its events in the wake of the George Floyd protests.

Tim Dodson, a reporter for the Bristol’s Herald Courier, shared a video of the plane flying over the event to his Twitter page.

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According to the Washington Post, attached to the flag was a banner that said the URL for a group called the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV).

Last month, the group authorized a “Defund NASCAR” banner and the confederate flag be flown over the Talladega racetrack, according to the Columbia Daily Herald.

After that incident, the group’s commander in chief told the Herald, “It is the hope of the Sons of Confederate Veterans that NASCAR fans will be allowed the fundamental American right of displaying pride in their family and heritage. … We believe NASCAR’s slandering of our Southern heritage only further divides our nation.”

According to the Washington Post, neither the group nor NASCAR have provided a comment on the most recent incident.


About the Author:

Daniela Sternitzky-Di Napoli has been a digital news editor at KPRC 2 since 2018. She is a published poet and has background in creative writing and journalism. Daniela has covered events like Hurricane Harvey and the Astros World Series win. In her spare time, Daniela is an avid reader and loves to spend time with her two miniature dachshunds.