Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Bubba Wallace end association with helmet designer after Confederate flag tweets
Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch and Bubba Wallace have dropped their associations with a helmet designer after the designer’s angry tweets about NASCAR’s decision to ban the Confederate flag.
Beam Designs was very upset online that NASCAR had made the decision to ban the flag Wednesday. Here’s a sampling of the myriad tweets from the account that haven’t been deleted. It’s easy to see why Johnson and Wallace would move so quickly to cut ties.
The Confederate Flag, North vs South in the Civil War, a war over separation of the Union, not slavery. But hey ignorance wins again, NASCAR you realize the North had slaves too, lol not just the South, you want to remove the American Flag as well, idiots. pic.twitter.com/ZTmDjhflK4
— BEAMdesigns (@BEAMdesigns) June 10, 2020
What’s there reason for prohibiting the flag, if it’s not racial then what is it? is it the color, too many stars 😂tell me genius why are they prohibiting the flag ? I don’t need to blame a flag created 160 yrs ago to show my support for equality.
— BEAMdesigns (@BEAMdesigns) June 10, 2020
Dropping like flies just like Nascars sponsors and fanbase have done the last few years, wonder why? 🤔
— BEAMdesigns (@BEAMdesigns) June 10, 2020
Sad day in racing watching NASCAR put their drivers and teams and their sport in the political spotlight of racism.
— BEAMdesigns (@BEAMdesigns) June 10, 2020
Beam Designs has created custom helmets for numerous drivers in the Cup Series.
Wallace: ‘All respect lost for ya’
Johnson was simple and straightforward in his announcement.
Due to recent posts on social media I have decided to end my relationship with Beam Designs.
— Jimmie Johnson (@JimmieJohnson) June 11, 2020
Wallace took a different approach and even posted a screenshot of tweets that Beam Designs had deleted. The company was not a fan of Wallace’s Black Lives Matter car that he raced to an 11th-place finish at Martinsville on Wednesday night.
Nah homie, as person I’ve done business with in the past and ALWAYS respected the work you’ve done for ones in the industry. You made it clear of where you stand in today’s matter. All respect lost for ya dawg. #garbage https://t.co/x9hqscckOS pic.twitter.com/DgYjWtrsTo
— Bubba Wallace (@BubbaWallace) June 11, 2020
Blaney followed Johnson and Wallace. Busch’s disassociation was reported by the Associated Press.
In light of some inappropriate tweets, I will no longer use the services of Beam Designs.
— Ryan Blaney (@Blaney) June 11, 2020
Kyle Busch joins Jimmie Johnson & Ryan Blaney & cuts ties with Beam. He will not collaborate with them going forward. https://t.co/cv126FZWBa
— Dan Gelston (@APgelston) June 11, 2020
In an attempt at damage control before the drivers said goodbye, the company’s account tried to make up for the previous tweets. That didn’t go well. The company got ratioed — when the number of replies greatly outweighs the number of retweets and favorites — by people noting what the account had previously said about the Confederate flag ban.
Thank You NASCAR and Bubba Wallace, I fully support the removal of the confederate flag. 🇺🇸 will rise above the challenges of equality. https://t.co/TmgJnSbWDR
— BEAMdesigns (@BEAMdesigns) June 11, 2020
NASCAR banned flag after request in 2015
NASCAR’s decision to ban the flag on Wednesday came nearly five years after it had kindly asked fans not to fly the flag at races in the wake of a mass shooting at a South Carolina church. Discussions about banning the flag picked up steam in recent weeks as protests happened across the country following George Floyd’s death.
NASCAR president Steve Phelps said the series could do better to address racial injustice in a speech before Sunday’s race at Atlanta and Wallace called for an outright ban of the flag in a Monday appearance on CNN.
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
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