Dale Earnhardt Jr. rips 'obnoxious' NASCAR fans treatment of Bubba Wallace
Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn’t appreciate the treatment of Bubba Wallace from fans in attendance during the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on May 14.
Earnhardt Jr. described the scene as driver introductions took place, with members of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers list on hand. Each driver came out and shook the hands of the legends lined up. During Wallace’s introduction, however, one “obnoxious” person made it known he was no fan of the 29-year-old. That person caught the ire of Earnhardt Jr.
“I was at Darlington a couple weeks ago,” Earnhardt Jr. recently said on ‘The Dale Jr. Download,’ via Fox News. “We’re on this stage, and it’s the 75 greatest drivers all lined up. Outside of me, these are the greatest drivers that have been involved in the sport. All distinguished, of varying ages, everybody’s there to have this great experience. And the drivers are being introduced and walking by us, shaking our hand one after the other… It’s this moment where everybody, you would think that it would be a moment where you’d behave.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. sticks up for Bubba Wallace
“And there’s this one guy at the rail, the rail of the fans that are down on the front straightaway, there’s one guy at the rail. Everybody for the most part is just cheering. There’s a couple, you know they give a couple people a hard time, Denny [Hamlin] and all that. A smattering of boos. Nothing crazy.
“But Bubba gets introduced and walks across the stage and there’s this guy right in front of me and Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth and everyone else there, screaming at the top of his lungs, ‘Go home! Go home! Go home!’ over and over, as loud as he could.
“And it was so obnoxious. I really wanted to jump down there and go, ‘Hey, could you stop? Is this really what you want to do right in this moment? Is this how you want to behave right now in front of all these incredible people that you’re standing in front of? Richard Petty and all these legends, you’re going to be acting this way?’
“And I thought man, that’s one day in Bubba’s life. And I was thinking, I know there’s people out there who have hated Kyle Busch and hated other drivers, and they probably have said some nasty things. But it just made me really disappointed…
“I will tell you man, Bubba Wallace puts up with more s— than anybody deserves.”
NASCAR opens investigation into Bubba Wallace radio hack, derogatory message
Wallace dealt with more from fans during the Cup Series All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway the following week. Wallace was subject to a racist remark from a fan who keyed into his radio channel. The incident occurred in the aftermath of Wallace’s runner-up finish to Kyle Larson in the race for $1 million.
NASCAR spokesman Mike Forde said Wednesday that the sport is trying to determine who keyed into Wallace’s radio channel, as well as how it was done, per ESPN. Forde added that Wallace didn’t hear the comment at the time it occurred.
“We certainly take that seriously, no doubt about that,” Forde said. “But we can’t have fans interfering with team radio and potential competition implications.”