After successfully calling for the removal of the Confederate flag from all NASCAR races, race car driver Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. has nabbed a deal with Beats By Dre headphones brand.
The Apple subsidiary announced on social media that the 26-year-old driver has signed an endorsement deal with them earlier than they’d planned because “hate cannot win the day.”
“We weren’t going to announce this until later this week, but hate cannot win the day,” reads the post. “No one should ever be asked to apologize for standing up for what’s right — we are proud to welcome @bubbawallace to the Beats by Dr. Dre family.”
The “hate” applies to both the noose incident as well as the response to it by the president.
Wallace drew attention after calling for the banning of Confederate flags from all NASCAR events in June, and the noose was discovered in his garage stall at Talladega Superspeedway the same month. An FBI investigation determined that it was not intended for Wallace, and had been in the garage since 2019, apparently used as a pull rope attached to a sliding door. President Donald Trump reacted this week to the news, calling for an apology from Wallace for the “hoax.”
“Has @BubbaWallace apologized to all of those great NASCAR drivers & officials who came to his aid, stood by his side, & were willing to sacrifice everything for him, only to find out that the whole thing was just another HOAX? That & Flag decision has caused lowest ratings EVER!” he tweeted Monday, July 6.
Wallace has since responded to the president’s comment on social media saying later that day, “Always deal with the hate being thrown at you with LOVE! Love over hate every day. Love should come naturally as people are TAUGHT to hate. Even when it’s hate from the POTUS.”
In response to the FBI’s investigation, Wallace shared that he was “relieved” that the incident wasn’t a hate crime and that he’d “gladly take a little embarrassment over what the alternatives could have been.”
“It’s been an emotional few days,” he wrote.” First off, I want to say how relieved I am that the investigation revealed that this wasn’t what we feared it was. I want to thank my team, NASCAR and the FBI for acting swiftly and treating this as a real threat. I think we’ll gladly take a little embarrassment over what the alternatives could have been. Make no mistake, though some will try, this should not detract from the show of unity we had on Monday, and the progress we’ve made as a sport to be a more welcoming environment for all.”
Wallace holds a slew of achievements in NASCAR, including being the first Black person to win a NASCAR Truck Series race, and in 2018 he became the first Black driver in the Daytona 500 since 1969.
