DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The excitement began small and grew louder on the sold-out Daytona Worldwide Speedway about an hour earlier than the inexperienced flag dropped to formally begin Sunday’s Daytona 500.
No, it wasn’t for Pitbull, a former automobile proprietor and Cuban American rapper and singer, taking the primary stage for a mini-set.
It wasn’t for Anthony Mackie, star of the No. 1 film “Captain America: Brave New World,” who was to inform the drivers to start out their engines.
It wasn’t for “Reacher” star Alan Ritchson, who was to drive the tempo automobile.
It was for a Boeing VC-25 which was doing a flyby close to the Speedway. The airplane was additionally Air Drive One.
President Trump arrived at Daytona Seashore Worldwide Airport simply earlier than midday and took the five-minute experience to the Speedway in “The Beast,” the presidential automobile. After Trump bought out of the automobile, he waved to the group, pumping his fist. He hung out speaking to drivers, each previous and current, and race officers.
Trump solely gave one interview, to Fox.
“I think [the Daytona 500] is fantastic, it’s great for the country,” Trump mentioned earlier than touting his accomplishments since taking workplace. He was accompanied by one in every of his granddaughters.
Earlier than the race, the modified and bolstered presidential automobile took a few laps across the banked speedway. Trump was ushered to a non-public viewing suite within the infield.
President Trump’s presidential limousine, often called “the Beast,” takes a tempo lap forward of the Daytona 500.
(Chris O’Meara / Related Press)
Trump was scheduled to depart the race about 3:05 p.m. and arrive again in South Florida about 4:15 p.m.
Trump additionally got here to Daytona in 2020 in a race that was halted due to climate and ultimately rescheduled.
It was Trump’s second main sporting occasion in every week. He was additionally on the Tremendous Bowl in New Orleans.
“I wasn’t sitting next to him, but I saw that he was there at the game the other day,” mentioned Chase Elliott, who has gained NASCAR’s hottest driver seven years in a row. “I think having a sitting president come and be a part of one of our biggest days of the year — certainly what I would call our biggest event of the year — I think is special. It certainly brings a lot of eyes and a different perspective to what we do down here for this race.”
The concept that it’s a second when a president visits echoed all through the garages.
“Any time you get big-name people to come to the 500 it’s pretty special,” mentioned Kyle Busch, a two-time Cup champion. “I remember when [President] Reagan came [in 1984] and that was special.
“It’s not just the celebrities that do the pre-race concert. The Rock [Dwayne Johnson] was here last year and I got my picture taken with him. Any time we can bring big-name people to our sport shines a brighter light on how big a deal this is.”
There was little doubt it was a Trump-friendly crowd each on and off the observe. However numerous eyes have been on Bubba Wallace, the one Black driver within the race. Wallace and Trump traded barbs in 2020, first when NASCAR banned the Accomplice battle flag at races. Wallace had lengthy been a proponent of excluding the flag from occasions due to its symbolic help of slavery. Trump criticized the choice by NASCAR.
Shortly after, a noose was present in Wallace’s storage. It led to an outpouring of help from fellow drivers and lots of followers. Some discovered it a really unifying second within the sport. An investigation discovered that the rope noose had been within the storage for a lot of months and was not directed at Wallace.
Bubba Wallace is launched earlier than a qualifying race at Daytona Worldwide Speedway on Thursday.
(John Raoux / Related Press)
Wallace didn’t let it go unanswered, posting: “Always deal with the hate being thrown at you with LOVE! … Love should come naturally as people are TAUGHT to hate. Even when it’s HATE from the POTUS.”
It was no shock that at a media occasion on Wednesday, the primary query to Wallace was about Trump coming to race.
“I couldn’t care less,” Wallace mentioned quietly. “We’re here to race. Not for the show.”
It was clear Wallace needed to maneuver on and never create an argument.
Wallace got here up as a driver by NASCAR’s variety program. Trump has pushed to eradicate variety, fairness and inclusion (DEI) applications from the federal authorities and past.
“There are sour apples out there who never fully appreciated the [benefits] of diversity,” Wallace mentioned later. “It’s up to you to have that good spot in your heart and just treat everybody equal and how you want to be treated and it doesn’t matter what they look like. You just have to do things right. It’s not that hard to do things right and be respectful to human beings.”
Two racing officers have been requested to remark about the way forward for NASCAR’s variety program, however neither responded to the request.
