NASCAR Cup Series stars Jimmie Johnson, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch have all respectively severed ties with a racing helmet designer after the brand account lashed out online about NASCAR's decision to ban the confederate flag at racing events. What began as some tweets fired off in the mentions of NASCAR media people in defense of keeping the flag -- or, as Jason Beam of Beam Designs puts it, in defense of preserving history, whatever that means -- grew to calling Bubba Wallace's Black Lives Matter car "garbage."
Here are some samples of the tweets Beam Design fired off over the past day or so -- the phrase "tweeting through it" comes to mind.
Meet Jason Beam @BEAMdesigns he creates custom painted helmets for the motorsports industry including @NASCAR drivers #BlackLivesMatter #BLM pic.twitter.com/mgSL3kgLW2
— 🎲 (@MagicZoetrope) June 11, 2020
Life comes at you fast. pic.twitter.com/saN3JgoE09
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) June 11, 2020
Nah homie, as person I’ve done business with in the past and ALWAYS respected the work you’ve done for ones in the industry. You made it clear of where you stand in today’s matter. All respect lost for ya dawg. #garbage https://t.co/x9hqscckOS pic.twitter.com/DgYjWtrsTo
— Bubba Wallace (@BubbaWallace) June 11, 2020
For what it's worth, there was a brief period where it looked like that the account had understood the error of its ways, or was at least trying to do some damage control. In one now-deleted tweet, the account posted "Thank You NASCAR and Bubba Wallace, I fully support the removal of the confederate flag. 🇺🇸 will rise above the challenges of equality." There was even a level of supposed understanding as to why Johnson and Blaney dropped the brand, for whatever that's worth.
Been a great run, much respect to you Jimmie, you’re an icon and legend that has etched an amazing career for the history books !!! 👊🏼👊🏼🏁 https://t.co/fCLMuXYxmB
— BEAMdesigns (@BEAMdesigns) June 11, 2020
It was a great run buddy, you’re a class act and I respect your decision. Cheers to many years of success coming your way. @Blaney https://t.co/qgPKsDF1hR
— BEAMdesigns (@BEAMdesigns) June 11, 2020
Now the tone has shifted as BEAMdesigns has returned to leaning into the aforementioned stances that got the helmet designer into hot water, and even started bragging about the growth in Twitter followers the account has gained since this whole thing started. Surely those extra social media pals will make up for the lost publicity and revenue that working with four of the biggest names in the sport brings.