Bubba Wallace Drives a Covid-Vaccine-Sponsored Car at Talladega and Says He Hopes It Upsets 'Keyboard Warriors'
The NASCAR driver told The Athletic the Kroger Health sponsorship is about flu shots and health. Breitbart's piece is pointed commentary that revisits his 2019 garage-rope episode.
NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace raced a car sponsored by a Covid-19 vaccine at Talladega on Sunday, and he told a reporter he expects some people to be angry, Breitbart News reports.
The car. Wallace drove his No. 23 Toyota Camry in the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway with sponsorship from Kroger Health and the Covid-19 vaccine Nuvaxovid, according to the Daily Mail as cited by Breitbart.
What he said. In an interview with The Athletic, Wallace acknowledged the sponsors are "feeding right into" the discomfort some people feel about Covid vaccines, and said: "Just pissing off the keyboard warriors. Man, why not, right? Here we are." He framed the deal as health outreach: "The Kroger Health side of things: get your flu shot. People are going to lose their minds over the COVID-19 stuff, but for us it's about building opportunities for people to be more educated on getting their flu shots." He added: "we're all in it together to help everybody's health."
Breitbart's angle. The outlet says Wallace "aims to piss off MAGA fans." Those words are Breitbart's, not Wallace's, and his quote as published refers to "keyboard warriors." The piece also calls his racing career "decidedly lackluster," with three wins, and revisits his 2019 claim that a noose was hung in his Talladega garage. The FBI found the rope was a garage door pull and that no one targeted him.
Note for readers: this is a short commentary-style item. We have not seen the full Athletic interview, and Breitbart's characterization of Wallace's motives and past is its own. The piece includes no response from Wallace's team, Kroger Health or NASCAR.