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NASCAR Removes Rule Mandating Team Members Must Stand During National Anthem

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pocono 400

(Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Katie Jerkovich Entertainment Reporter
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NASCAR has decided to remove a rule that mandated team members must stand during the playing of the national anthem following George Floyd’s death.

NASCAR eliminated the previous rule before last weekend’s race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway therefore allowing for peaceful protests during pre-race ceremonies when the “Star Spangled Banner” is played, per YahooSports.com in a piece published Wednesday.  (RELATED: President Trump To Attend Season-Opening Daytona 500)

As noted by a NASCAR reporter who tweeted the rule and said “this wording on conduct during the national anthem was on the driver-crew chief prerace handout for Bristol.” (RELATED: ‘A Man Of The People’: NASCAR Drivers Praise Trump After Daytona Appearance)

“It was not in the handout (which contains pit road speed, minimum speed, etc.) for Atlanta and #NASCAR does not plan to include it in the handout for future events,” his tweet added.

The wording that appeared on a handout given at the driver/crew chief meeting, per NBC,  read as follows:

DRIVERS & CREW CHIEFS, please advise all your Team members: Conduct during the playing of the National Anthem, taken from the US Flag Code. When the flag is displayed – all persons should face and stand at attention with their right hand over their heart – persons should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart – when the flag is not displayed – all present should face toward the music and act in the same manner they would if the flag were displayed. 

It comes after NASCAR official Kirk Price took a knee at Sunday’s race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway during the national anthem, while he saluted the flag. He served on active duty in the Army for three years.

A short time later, NASCAR announced that the “display of the Confederate flag will be prohibited from all NASCAR events and properties.”

“The presence of the confederate flag at NASCAR events runs contrary to our commitment to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all fans, our competitors and our industry,”