FedEx and Denny Hamlin decided to remove the FedEx branding on their NASCAR racecar to promote the National Civil Rights Museum during the Monday race at Talladega Speedway.
For today’s race, @FedEx has chosen to remove all of their branding and traditional colors, with this week’s theme being to listen and learn as they spotlight the @NCRMuseum, which they are featuring on the hood. pic.twitter.com/hfd5aGq2e9
— Joe Gibbs Racing (@JoeGibbsRacing) June 21, 2020
Hamlin said on Twitter that he visited the museum last Thursday and delivered on his “promise” to understand more about racial injustice. The museum also said on Twitter that FedEx had donated $500,000 in support of the museum’s cause. (RELATED: Ole Miss Will Retire Eli Manning’s Number 10)
“Today you will see my #11 car will not carry the traditional paint scheme that you usually see,” said Hamlin on Twitter, “FedEx and myself instead want to give that voice to the NCRM.” The museum features prominent events from the civil rights movement and is located at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.
“To say that this was informative, humbling, eye opening is a huge understatement,” said Hamlin on Twitter, “I want to thank them personally for taking the time to educate me on so many topics.” The 39-year-old driver won his record-tying third NASCAR Cup series on June 14 and is currently in first place at the 44th lap of the Geico 500 at Talladega Speedway.
The statement by Hamlin and FedEx comes amid NASCAR controversy as a noose was found Sunday in Bubba Wallace’s garage. Wallace is the only black driver at the top level of NASCAR, and drove a Black Lives Matter car on June 10.