Drivers and crew members heeded NASCAR executive warnings not to protest as the national anthem played at a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race Sunday, according to a report.
“It’ll get you a ride on a Greyhound bus,” Richard Childress, head of Richard Childress Racing, told the Associated Press ahead of the ISM Connect 300 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. “Anybody that works for me should respect the country we live in. So many people gave their lives for it. This is America.”
The burst of protests was sparked by President Trump, who on Friday called on the NFL to fire players who knelt during the “Star Spangled Banner,” adding that they were sons of bitches.
Hall of Fame driver Richard Petty echoed Childress, saying “Anybody that don’t stand up for the anthem oughta be out of the country.”
“What got ’em where they’re at? The United States,” he said, before threatening to fire a Richard Petty Motorsports protester.
Chip Ganassi, of Chip Ganassi Racing, however, said he supported the Pittsburgh Steelers — who staying in their locker room and not taking the field during the anthem — and coach Mike Tomlin’s comments about refusing to let “divisive times or divisive individuals affect [their] agenda.”
