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    Devil Ball Golf

    Bubba Watson won’t be driving the General Lee at a NASCAR track

    By Jay Busbee | Devil Ball Golf – Fri, Feb 17, 2012 2:44 PM EST

    Bubba and The General / Via @bubbawatsonThe Confederate flag dots every NASCAR infield, but at least in one location, it's not welcome on the track.

    Bubba Watson owns one of the original General Lee cars, which he won at auction last month. Watson's also a close enough friend of driver Denny Hamlin that he's invited Hamlin to caddy for him at Augusta in April. And Watson, a Phoenix resident, wants to drive his new purchase around Phoenix International Raceway when Hamlin and the rest of NASCAR head there next month.

    Alas, it's not to be. Watson, the honorary grand marshal, won't be permitted to drive the General Lee on the track. In other words, NASCAR did what Boss Hogg couldn't:

    "NASCAR, International Speedway Corp. and Phoenix International Raceway officials discussed this and decided it was not in the best interest of our sport,'' NASCAR said in a statement. "The image of the Confederate flag is not something that should play an official role in our sport as we continue to reach out to new fans and make NASCAR more inclusive." Watson acknowledged the news without comment on Twitter.

    This is going to rile up hardcore fans, but so be it. NASCAR has to play to a larger fanbase now; when your marquee event (the Daytona 500) draws 30 million viewers, you can't afford to appear attached to, shall we say, controversial symbols like the Confederate flag.

    Score one for The Man. But we have a feeling Bubba will be back. Him n' the Duke boys are just cookin' somethin' up, we can feel it.

    Watch Full Count!
     

    47 comments

    • Dennis
      Dennis  •  3 months ago
      So Viagra on the hood is better ? So much for history.Time to start banning all the energy drinks because of health issues.We are what we are.What decisions will be made for us next ?
      • KONG
        KONG 3 months ago
        haaaa well said, Dennis. Time for obama-nation to head out
        to the pasture.
      • Mike
        Mike 3 months ago
        Viagra sells better than the Confederacy apparently...
    • mcshooter
      mcshooter  •  Akron, Ohio  •  3 months ago
      as usual, nascrap did it again, they have to sit and plan how next to screw themselves
    • Mike Alcorn
      Mike Alcorn  •  Dallas, Texas  •  3 months ago
      I think they have forgotten their roots!
    • 55sportfan
      55sportfan  •  Ottawa, Canada  •  3 months ago
      a pace car should also be a modern safe car the general lee is 35 yrs old the flag issue is so pc its laughable .Whats is the matter for the usa that it doesn,t embrace their history anymore for fear of offending people
      • CLASH
        CLASH 3 months ago
        Just so happens that that particular part of our history was marred with slavery, hatred, and racism...not the part we're proud of.
    • Jack
      Jack  •  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania  •  3 months ago
      To be consistent NASCAR better cancel all events in Mississippi and Georgia. Can't see how they can tolerate those state flags on the their tracks and not the Gen. Lee.
      • Justin
        Justin 3 months ago
        The Georgia flag no longer displays the confederate emblem. It was changed years ago. Nascar doesn't run any major events in Mississippi. (not that I totally disagree with your sentiment, just pointing it out)
    • Rotextro
      Rotextro  •  Houston, Texas  •  3 months ago
      To hell with NASCAR and all you other Confederacy bashers. It was and is about states rights and freedom. Won't spend another dime in Phoenix or Arizona. Have vacationed there enough to say "been there, done that." They are now on the DON'T GO List. Arizona tourist commission must be real proud.
      • CLASH
        CLASH 3 months ago
        So because of backassward thinking, it was OK to hate and persecute a race or three due to their beliefs and/or skin color?.... Evolve yourself.
      • Rotextro
        Rotextro 3 months ago
        If you've ever spent any time in Africa as I have, you would learn first hand that the slave trade originated with African tribesmen selling their own people for slaves. There doesn't seem to be any big shame about it there. In Accra, Ghana, one of the main tourist attractions is the old slave fort. Americans just bought was for sale. Was it wrong? Yes. Was it corrected? Yes. Are African Americans better off in America that they would be if it never happened? Absolutely. Those slaves are the real black American heroes. They paid a horrific price so those who were born in this country could be Americans. There are many people in Africa living very primitive lives today with very short life spans and die from diseases that have been eradicated for years in America.

        Erect some monuments to those first generation slaves who paved the way for their forbears with their freedom. But the War was about political issues, not racist issues. I am a 7th generation Mississippian. My family, just like George Washington owned slaves when it was legal. I was not taught to be a racist and am not one today.

        Just don't mess with the Confederate battle flag. Many good men died fighting for it
        so let them rest in peace. The war has been over 147 years. Quit beating us up about it and STOP WHINING.

        Bubba Watson should withdraw as Marshall and move out of Phoenix. NASCAR sucks. Hit 'em in the pocketbook.
      • Rotextro
        Rotextro 3 months ago
        The best protest to NASCAR is to just not go to the races for the rest of the year.
        Hit 'em right square in the pocketbook. Let 'em take the races up North.
    • Double U
      Double U  •  Glendale, California  •  3 months ago
      Wussification of America. Can't offend anyone.
      • Greg
        Greg 3 months ago
        Hey, let's then just offend you since you are so liberal. What's it going to be.....your marriage, cleft lip, herpes scars? Or do we only offend people not fitting your set of issues. Seriously? The confederate flag? What else could it stand for but the personification of slavery......?
      • Jim
        Jim 3 months ago
        Don't you remember the mantra "The South shall rise again."? I lived in the south 2 years, and for many it will never change, but for most, the history is just that: History.
    • Gaz-a-Matic
      Gaz-a-Matic  •  Tucson, Arizona  •  3 months ago
      What a bunch of PC CRAP ! NASCAR honchos are a bunch of woosies.
    • not worth the missed oppo ...
      not worth the missed oppo ...  •  Meriden, Connecticut  •  3 months ago
      It absolutely amazing just how you take a piece of important history, associate it w/ bigotry that was a hundred-n-fifty years old, and then superimpose it on society today. Its like Mohammed Ali being a coward by dodging the draft in 1970 and suddenly becoming heroic for dodging in 2012 because Vietnam "is now" looked on as a senseless war.????? Got news. If the bigotry was still that potent today, there there would be three to four teams in the NFL and perhaps two in the NBA.
    • titan34
      titan34  •  3 months ago
      It is history and history should never be ignored.
      Does it stir up bad memories and bad moments in past history? Absolutely!
      But we should NEVER shelve it because it might offend someone. Again, it is history.
    • Hot N Spicy
      Hot N Spicy  •  San Diego, California  •  3 months ago
      Nascar is going the way of the carburator.
    • Giddy up
      Giddy up  •  3 months ago
      #$%$ NASCAR. Now even they have become politically correct. LOSERS.
    • SOB
      SOB  •  Monroe, Louisiana  •  3 months ago
      west monroe la has a football team that is called the rebels, we play dixie, we pray before the games and i believe bubba and the general lee would be more than welcome plus the rebel flag is displayed quite a bit along with the playing of dixie after each touchdown(quite a few times too)would love to have him
    • realist
      realist  •  Phoenix, Arizona  •  3 months ago
      I think more people will attend just to get a look at the General Lee. NASCAR is a pimple on the #$%$ of the Daytona 500 and always will be. Maybe they should do something to liven up their venue.
    • I HATE THUGS
      I HATE THUGS  •  Houston, Texas  •  3 months ago
      Bars n' stars for life. It's all about states rights and freedom and nothing else, know your history. Let the boy ride in on General Lee
    • A Yahoo! User  •  Woodstock, Georgia  •  3 months ago
      Another politically correct statement. Doesn't it just make you proud to be an American? The way that NASCAR is going, they won't have anyone showing up at their races and it won't matter what flags are displayed. Of course, no one will be offended. What a crock!
    • CHIP
      CHIP  •  Nashville, Tennessee  •  3 months ago
      inclusive this!
    • Joe
      Joe  •  Mt Hamilton, California  •  3 months ago
      Why not just cover rthe confederate flag with a removable plastic ( with US flag on it) film..
    • alan
      alan  •  3 months ago
      Conroe Texas writes..."Go Old school Bubba do it anyway ,Nascar would be jealous seeing an actual stock car on the track again. " ....You took the words out my mouth! This is just another "nail in the coffin"...How does NASCAR excuse/justify a V-8 powered, rear wheel drive, 2 door Toyota Camry being called a "stock car"??? Can I buy one? Can anyone even buy a V-8 powered Toyota CAR ???(I didn't say truck, and Lexus, as we keep getting told isn't a Toyota) ...Nope! ...This is why the fans are leaving by the thousands! To anyone out there with deep pockets, start a new, real STOCK CAR race series, (like the Continental Series) and watch NASCAR wither on the vine and die, a slow politically correct death.
    • Kris
      Kris  •  Richmond Hill, Georgia  •  3 months ago
      You might as well ban the U.S flag, too, because many slaves were shipped under the U.S. flag and sold in northern ports. How many fortunes in the North were made off of slavery. Pure hypocrisy! Is it somehow worse to transport and sell slaves than it is to buy and work them? This assumes that you even accept the belief that the war was about slavery.
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