NASCAR’s Jimmie Johnson, Wallace Drop Helmet Designer Over Confederate Flag Tweets
Social media tirades aren’t always good for business.
NASCAR's ban of the Confederate flag hasn't sat well with everyone—shocker, I know. Whether the argument is about questionable history or the separation of sports and politics, droves of used-to-be fans have expressed their frustration over the inclusion-based ruling. This also seemed to be the case with Beam Designs, who penned helmet themes for drivers like Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, and—oh yeah—Bubba Wallace, before they all dropped the company for a series of "inappropriate" tweets regarding the flag.
Beam Designs started by calling Wallace's Black Lives Matter livery from Martinsville "garbage" with three thumbs down. Y'know, for emphasis.
Then, in a series of since-deleted social media posts, the company hit out against NASCAR's decision to remove the flag from all events and properties.
Beam claimed the Civil War was fought "over separation of the Union, not slavery." Someone must have forgotten to tell Alexander H. Stephens—Vice President of the Confederate States—exactly what he was fighting for when delivering his Cornerstone Speech in Savannah some 159 years ago.
Negative attention stemming from these tweets drew the ire of Blaney, Busch, Johnson, and Wallace. They all severed ties with Beam, despite him pre-emptively bragging about collaborating with Blaney and Johnson in the coming weeks.
In the time since, Beam has taken a lighter approach to social media, retweeting the drivers with comments congratulating them on their careers.
That was only after he bragged about his views bringing in more followers, though.
Regardless, NASCAR's Cup Series will continue this Sunday, June 14, at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Exactly how the sanctioning body plans to keep Confederate flags out of the track is yet to be seen, so we'll be here to keep an eye on that as it develops.
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h/t: CBS Sports
