Nascar Chairman Wants Kyle Busch Flag Eliminated at Races

Completely adapted from Jenna Fryer's Associated Press column

SONOMA, California (AP) — Calling the #18 flag an "insensitive symbol" he personally finds offensive, NASCAR chairman Brian France said the series will be aggressive in disassociating the symbol from its events.

"Heritage, not hate" --JJ Yeley

"We want to go as far as we can to eliminate the presence of that flag," France told The Associated Press on Saturday. "I personally find it an offensive symbol, so there is no daylight how we feel about it, and our sensitivity to others who feel the same way.

"Obviously, we have roots with Interstate Batteries, there are events with M&Ms, it's part of our history like it is for JGR. But it needs to be just that, part of our history. It isn't part of our future.

"We want everybody in this country to be a NASCAR fan, and you can't do that by being insensitive in any one area."

France admitted that Nascar had supported #18 driver merchandise in the past, such as Dale Jarrett and Bobby Labonte.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon, two of NASCAR's biggest stars, on Friday supported NASCAR's efforts.

This week, NASCAR said it backed fans’ efforts to remove the Kyle Busch flag from Joe Gibbs Racing grounds, and noted it bars the flag symbol in any official NASCAR capacity.

But banning it on race track property is a much larger task for NASCAR, and many of its fans still embrace the flag for unfathomable reasons. It flies atop campers and at camp sites at many races, as fans spend entire weekends in either the infield or surrounding areas of track property.

The size of the crowd, and NASCAR's own acknowledgment that fans have a right to freedom of expression, would make it difficult to police the presence of the flag.

But France insisted NASCAR is exploring its options.

"That's what we're working on — working on how far can we go," he said. "If there's more we can do to disassociate ourselves with that flag at our events than we've already done, then we want to do it. We are going to be as aggressive as we can to disassociate ourselves with that flag."

Sonoma “News” and Notes

—After an oddly-placed off-week, the Sprint Cup Series returns for its last race of the year on Fox Sports 1.  Here’s hoping they use enough packing peanuts when they put Darrell Waltrip in storage till Homestead.

—Expect to hear plenty of chatter about how this is one of only two races where drivers like AJ Allmendinger and Casey Mears have a legitimate shot to make the Chase.  Funny, as I thought the main appeal of road course racing was that it was, y’know, exciting.

—The Xfinity and Truck series both take a break after a weekend that saw Erik Jones win both races (in two different states).  Its sad to think that anything other than back-to-back wins would have likely resulted in another post-race hissy-fit.

—Jamie Dick announces that Viva Motorsports is shutting down.  Then, a few days later, Ganassi announces that Kyle Larson will run a Viva paper towels paint scheme.  Coincidence?  Well, yeah, probably.

—Other than the upcoming July race at New Hampshire, we’re heading into an unbroken stretch of races where it will be the LAST TIME Jeff Gordon races there.  I personally love how the media is focusing tons of time and attention on Jeff’s final season, while simultaneously wondering why he’s having such a crummy year.

NBC to Re-Launch Nascar Coverage with Race Nobody Can Watch

With only one more race remaining on Fox Sports’ portion of the Cup schedule, NBC and NBCSN have unveiled their plan to get fans engaged, excited, and ready for their Nascar coverage—a race held on a Sunday night when the majority of fans cannot watch.

They'd better not bring him back

“If there’s one thing we know about Nascar fans, its that they’re a bunch of beer-swilling rednecks who don’t really have jobs”, said NBC Sports executive Tony Michaels.  “So of course it wouldn’t matter to have a race on a Sunday night, especially when virtually nobody gets off from work the next day—heck, they’re Nascar fans, not real people!”

NBC has already begun airing commercials promoting its coverage, prepared by the advertising firm Pandering+Lame.  The commercials include an NBC sitcom actor chosen for his large mustache, and commercials featuring Nascar drivers using patriotism to promote tv coverage.

“I mean, all Nascar fans love their country, right”, Michaels said at a recent press conference.  “I mean, they always show the national anthem on tv, so they must be the kind of people who’ll watch anything if the competitors say they love America, right?  And its not like any of them have to go to WORK the next day!”

NBC has also integrated its marketing plan into NBCSN’s daily Nascar show, unsurprisingly called “Nascar America”, and sequestering most of its Nascar personalities in a North Carolina soundstage (dubbed “Burton’s Garage”) far away from their regular studio outside New York City.

“If there’s one thing Nascar fans want, it’s beer, chaw, and racing, and that’s what we aim to give them on NBC”, Michaels said.  “Just like how football fans want nine different pre-show commentators, and horse racing fans want an ex-figure skater commenting on people’s hats.  At NBC, we know our audiences.”