Some NASCAR fans defend right to fly Confederate flag

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Confederate flag with the snarling Iron Maiden logo in the center declared that the South will rise again.

Hanging from another side of John Wilson's tent, a black POW/MIA banner stirred in the barely-existent breeze on Friday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway.

An American flag had been tucked against the tent pole, and would go back on the hood of his buddy's truck once he returned.

Wilson said each one meant something to him, and he didn't much care what it means to anyone else.

"This is the United States of America. I have the right to do what I chose," Wilson, a Dunnellon resident, told USA TODAY Sports. "And if you find it offensive, I am sorry."

The symbolism of the Confederate flag has become a flashpoint in recent weeks following the murder of nine church-goers by a self-avowed white supremacist in Charleston, S.C.

NASCAR and several tracks have drafted behind national sentiment in calling for the flag's disassociation from the sport. Daytona International Speedway is undertaking a flag exchange this weekend to swap out the Confederate version for the American flag, but as of Friday afternoon, track president Joie Chitwood III said, there had been no takers.

The flag, once-ubiquitous at NASCAR races, had seen a slow but steady decline in recent years. But the controversy, in keeping with the sentiments of those comfortable with flying it, had the flag making a slight comeback this week in the first NASCAR race in the South since Gov. Nikki Haley ordered the flag removed from a Confederate memorial at the South Carolina capitol.

"I think it's getting a bum rap. It ain't right," Wilson said. "Everybody else is getting to fly their flags in the United States of the America and have their heritage. Why can't I have mine? That flag there had nothing to do with slavery, or hate. That one was a Confederate battle flag right there, that wasn't even a southern flag."

Wilson said the flag represented "Southern pride" to him.

Across the campground, ex-Marine Alex Lee flew a Confederate flag next to a Jeff Gordon banner, cognizant that the driver was one of many who came out against its display. The flag means "Southern hospitality, just the way I was raised. Gotta give it to get it," Lee said.

Lee said he is bothered by the "simple-minded" thinking that associates the flag with racism.

"That's a personal preference," he said. "I don't like the gay pride parades and the flags they are flying over there, either. That's offensive to me."

Wilson said "there are a lot of other flags out there being flown that are a lot more offensive and nobody is saying anything about it. Iraq flag, Puerto Rican flags. There's Puerto Rican, African pride. Well, this is American pride."

Wilson said he was not interested in exchanging his flag because he has numerous American flags – noting, as did Lee, he always flies it over the Confederate – and said he would stop attending races if tracks ban their use.

"I'll fly my flag and watch it on TV," he said.

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