Dale Jr. inducted into hall of fame

     The 2020 NASCAR Hall of Fame Class was announced yesterday and fan favorite Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was selected on his first ballot. Jr. has moved from the driver’s seat to car owner and is one of the  main  commentators for NBC as well as his own show and podcast. His contributions off the track may be his biggest legacy to racing
    Joining him were Mike Stefanik and as the Pioneer selection Red Farmer of the Alabama Gang.
     Neil Bonnett once again did not get enough votes for induction. My opinion: Neil Bonnett should be in the Hall of Fame, but its all up to the voters.
    Due to the weatther. the GEICO 500 was moved to Monday afternoon and may have to be moved again to Tuesday, looking at the forecast.
    Changes come slowly in sports, but the incident that happened Sunday in which Bubba Wallace found a noose in his garage area at the track is not acceptable on any level. NASCAR released a statement saying, “We are angry and outraged, and cannot state strongly enough how seriously we take this heinous act.” Bubba Wallace issued a statement that said, “ ...serves as a painful reminder of how much further we have to go as a society and how persistent we must be in the fight against racism.” Twitter was flooded with support from other drivers for Wallace as the industry is circling around him in support. An investigation will be started and hopefully be resolved quickly.
    The recent rule change banning the Confederate flag by NASCAR has not been accepted by all as drivers and officials were met by a number of vehicles lining the sides of the road flying Confederate flags, and a small plane circled over the track pulling a flag and a banner reading, “Defund NASCAR.”
    Another controversy this week is NASCAR experimenting by moving the car numbers back along the side of the car  to the rear quarter panel for the All Star race. As would be expected, some like the idea while others say leave it alone.
    As we mentioned last week, the air between Chase Elliott and Joey Logano is still not clear as Logano commented during an interview with The Sporting News this week, “You race people the way they race you. You can’t do things without repercussions of some sort. You cost me a win; I cost you a win. Those types of things go like that.” This situation seems far from settled.
    Kentucky Speedway will now be hosting the ARCA race that was scheduled in July at Charlotte. No firm date has been set at this time.
    Hailie Deegan will be looking for her first superspeedway win in the ARCA series race on Saturday before the Xfinity race. She is currently the  series second place driver. Deegan drives  the #4 Monster car and has some serious driving skill. Deegan ran in the top four until the final round of pit stops where she came out in seventh and never could draft back towards the front.
    Bristol Motor Speedway will be the site this season for the All Star race.  This will be only the second time the race has not been held at Charlotte and the first time for it to be held at a short track. Also, as of right now at least 30,000 fans will get to attend the race.
    Politics in the racing world...Bubba Wallace drew a lot of attention in the press and on television last week by driving the Black Lives Matter #43 car in support of social justice. While at the same time Kyle Weatherman seemed to be completely ignored by media  and other racing outlets in driving the Back the Blue #47 in support of law enforcement during the Xfinity race.  
    Denny Hamlin and Corey LaJoie seemed to have called a truce. In a report by NBCSports Lajoie claims Hamlin sent him a message saying he was going to wreck him during the race at Talladega. NASCAR got involved when Lajoie’s team owner complained to NASCAR officials.
    Former cup driver Kyle Larson, who was given an indefinite suspension by NASCAR  due to uttering a racial expletive during an irace, is back doing what he loves the most: racing on dirt. He currently sits at second in the standings of the NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series and is fighting for a top spot in the World of Outlaws Series. Larson has already won five events over the last two weeks since exiting NASCAR.
    I am saddened that my  column about the sport I love contains more about race relations and politics than racing. What I wouldn’t give just to hear Darrell Waltrip say “Boogity, boogity, boogity let’s go racing boys” one more time and be able to enjoy competition on the track.