Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage announced Monday, March 4, 2013, that the National Rifle Association would be sponsoring the April 13th event at Texas Motor Speedway, dubbed the NRA 500. With the recent events involving gun violence in our country, as well as Michael Waltrip and Swan racing fielding the Newtown car at the Daytona 500, some question if this is a move that comes too soon, but the NRA is not new to NASCAR. It was only last season that the NRA sponsored the Nationwide race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Recently, the NRA has been heavily involved in lobbying and campaigning against lawmaker’s attempts to introduce gun control legislation in Washington that would ban many types of firearms and make background checks much harder to pass. This move leaves some wondering if this is an attempt on the part of the NRA to further lobby for more gun rights, or draw attention to the organization while reaching out to a very large audience.
In a recent statement, track President Eddie Gossage said, “The NRA has been involved in the sport for several years and has been a partner of Speedway Motorsports, Inc. for many years in various aspects, and this race entitlement is just another extension of that business relationship.”
Most fans know that guns are not a new thing at Texas Motor Speedway, though. The winner is photographed in victory lane with a cowboy hat and a set of pistols, and the fastest qualifier for the event is awarded a shotgun.
The country is very split on the issue of gun control, and NASCAR fans are no different. There will likely be some complaints about the choice of the NRA as the primary sponsor for the event, but Texas Motor Speedway is going forward and making a bold statement. I guess, like everything in Texas, this could be big. It remains to be seen if it is going to be big in a good way or not.
