#Bubba Wallace: Ray Ciccarelli’s stance on Confederate flag ban ‘doesn’t matter’

Bubba Wallace recently had “Black Lives Matter” emblazoned on his No. 43 car. Before his next race, perhaps he’ll consider adding that Ray Ciccarelli “doesn’t really matter.”

Wallace, NASCAR’s only African-American driver, helped spark the company’s widely praised new policy to outlaw the presence of traditionally omnipresent Confederate flags at NASCAR events, but found criticism from Ciccarelli, who threatened to quit racing due to his displeasure with the new stance.

Wallace, 26, hasn’t given much thought to Ciccarelli’s comments, mostly because the second-place finisher in the 2018 Daytona 500 hasn’t ever given any thought to the 50-year-old part-time driver in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, who has zero wins, zero top-five finishes and has never led a lap in 32 career NASCAR races.

“I’ve only seen one driver, and I wouldn’t really call him a competitor. I haven’t really seen him much on the track,” Wallace said of Ciccarelli on MSNBC. “The guys I’m racing with, my peers, they’re supportive of NASCAR and supportive of my stance on everything and that means a lot.

“One driver I haven’t heard much about in years doesn’t really count, doesn’t really matter.”

Wallace previously said he was “baffled” by Ciccarelli’s since-deleted post on Facebook, in which the latter wrote: “Well, it’s been a fun ride and dream come true but if this is the direction NASCAR is headed, we will not participate after 2020 season is over,” the post read. “I don’t believe in kneeling during Anthem nor taken ppl right to fly what ever flag they love.

“I could care less about the Confederate Flag, but there are ppl that do and it doesn’t make them a racist all you are doing is (expletive) one group to cater to another and i ain’t spend the money we are to participate in any political BS!! So everything is for SALE!!”