NASCAR Fans Explode After ARCA Driver Rolls Out Juneteenth Paint Scheme at Pocono

NASCAR fans were done with the politics three years ago.

Then a Juneteenth car with a Black power fist showed up on the grid at Pocono.

Nearly 400 comments hit NASCAR's social media inside of hours – and not a single one was positive.

The Car That Set NASCAR Fans Off

ARCA Series rookie Dystany Spurlock debuted a special Juneteenth paint scheme on her No. 66 car at Pocono Raceway on Friday, featuring hand-drawn artwork, chalk-inspired textures, a Black power fist, and the date June 19, 1865.

The reaction from NASCAR's core fan base was immediate and brutal.

Fans called it virtue signaling with no place in sports. They demanded to know whether NASCAR would run a July 4th scheme for America 250. They announced they were done watching the ARCA Series.

And the comparison that showed up in comment after comment was the same: Bubba Wallace's Black Lives Matter car from 2020.

That's the association NASCAR just handed its critics – six years after the BLM car, the noose hoax, and the Confederate flag ban nearly destroyed the sport's relationship with its own fan base.

The fans remember all of it.

Denny Hamlin Is Rewriting NASCAR History

The backdrop made the timing even sharper.

Hamlin didn't just win the Great American Getaway 400 on Sunday. He became only the fourth driver in Cup Series history to win three consecutive races – a list that includes Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, and Darrell Waltrip, all of them in the Hall of Fame.

Hamlin is 45 years old and says he's retiring after next season.

Sure thing, Denny.

The win also pushed Hamlin past the late Kyle Busch into sole possession of ninth place on the all-time Cup wins list – his 64th career victory, his eighth all-time at Pocono.

His own teammate Tyler Reddick was the last man standing. Hamlin beat him by 1.678 seconds.

At the start of this summer, Reddick led the points by nearly 400. He now leads by 19.

That is not a points battle. That is a demolition.

Ben Franklin Fired the Engines and the Left Hated It

Before the race started, NASCAR handed its critics something else to rage about.

Actors dressed as Benjamin Franklin and Betsy Ross walked to the starting line and gave the command to start engines – and Franklin used the old formulation, "Gentlemen, start your engines," not the modern corrected version.

America 250 is the national celebration of the country's 250th birthday, and NASCAR leaned into it hard at Pocono. Half the media spent the weekend performatively outraged. The fans in the stands roared.

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This is the same fan base that lived through three years of NASCAR lecturing them. They endured all of it.

They're still here. And NASCAR is finally talking to them again.

Steve Phelps Never Actually Left

Here's what nobody is saying out loud: NASCAR president Steve Phelps built the woke era from scratch.

In 2020, Phelps personally led the decision to ban the Confederate flag. He publicly championed the Black Lives Matter movement and its presence in the sport. He went on television to lecture the fan base about racial justice. And when fans started putting "Let's Go Brandon" on NASCAR-branded merchandise, Phelps threatened to sue them.

He didn't just let the woke era happen. He drove it.

https://twitter.com/bobpockrass/status/2065445026281218070

So when a Juneteenth car with a Black power fist rolls out in the support series the same weekend NASCAR is staging Ben Franklin at the starting line, understand what you're actually seeing. That's not confusion. That's Phelps.

The Cup Series is doing damage control with fans. The support series is still running his original playbook.

Spurlock wrecked out on the first lap, finishing last – on the same lap as Bobby Earnhardt, Dale's grandson, making his ARCA debut.

The paint scheme finished first. Nearly 400 comments, every single one of them furious.

The Fans Were Right the Whole Time

Your dad and your granddad sat through the BLM car, the noose hoax, the Confederate flag ban, and three years of NASCAR telling them they were the problem.

They kept showing up anyway.

They showed up at Pocono on Sunday and cheered when Betsy Ross fired those engines.

Denny Hamlin – 45 years old, three wins in a row, standing alongside Richard Petty in the history books – gave them something to celebrate.

And then Steve Phelps reminded them that the men running NASCAR still think the fans are wrong.

The fans were never wrong. NASCAR was. And until Phelps is gone, this sport will keep running two conflicting messages – one for the fans who fill the grandstands, and one for the DEI consultants who don't.

Sources:

• Associated Press, "Denny Hamlin Wins the NASCAR Cup Race at Pocono for His Third Straight Victory," AP, June 14, 2026.
• NASCAR.com Staff, "Three in a Row! Denny Hamlin Wins Cup Series Race at Pocono," NASCAR.com, June 14, 2026.
• Daily Downforce Staff, "Dystany Spurlock Brings Strong Rookie Campaign and Special Juneteenth Livery Into Pocono," Daily Downforce, June 11, 2026.
• ARCA Racing Staff, "Notebook: Reigning East Series Champion Isaac Kitzmiller Ready to Tackle the Tricky Triangle," ARCA Racing, June 10, 2026.
• Zach Dean, "NASCAR Sends Loud Message to America-Hating Losers, Black Driver's Controversial Paint Scheme and Drunk Jimmie," OutKick, June 15, 2026.
• Jeff Gluck, "On the Eve of the 2022 Daytona 500, President Steve Phelps Has NASCAR Moving Forward," ESPN, February 20, 2022.