An anti-ICE meme posted to a usually apolitical NASCAR subreddit shocked fans this weekend after skyrocketing to the community's Top Post of All Time on Sunday.
The image, emblazoned with "F*ck ICE" and the phrase "bootleggers not bootlickers," revealed an unexpectedly large contingent of left-leaning NASCAR fans.
The moment quickly spilled onto X, where users began realizing that NASCAR’s fanbase may be far more politically diverse and anti-establishment than stereotypes suggest.
The anti-ICE post that took over NASCAR Reddit
The day after an ICE agent killed 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti in the streets of Minneapolis, u/puffadda posted a strong opinion about the agency on r/NASCARMemes.
The image shows NASCAR racers going full throttle around the racetrack overlaid with the words "F*ck ICE."
"Bootleggers Not Boot Lickers," the post headline reads.
While Redditors lean further left overall than you might think, frequenters of this sub know it to be generally apolitical. Additionally, most people assume the average NASCAR fan leans more right than left.
That image didn't reach Top Post status because of hate comments, either. All the top commenters support the message, with many evoking the late NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt.
"The only thing that intimidates me isn't some Fascist in a mask, it's seven-time cup series champion Dale Earnhardt," said u/MissMurder17. "F*ck ICE, raise hell, praise Dale."
Earnhardt was beloved as something of a people's champion in his time, and recently become a leftist meme icon.
The post's virality also echoes ICE's plummeting approval ratings, even among Republicans voters.
"Love my NASCAR leftists"
On X, a fan who calls themself "nascar twitter’s least favorite leftist" went similarly viral by reposting the image from r/NASCARMemes and subsequently revealing how many NASCAR leftists exist online.
While admitting that Reddit "leans left more than most social media," @notbubbawallace reported that they've "never seen anything like this in any apolitical nascar group anywhere." That post gained 23,000 likes after hitting X on Monday.
The massive response led them to quote tweet a post saying "love my nascar leftists" with "okay, maybe there’s a few more of us than i thought."
Commenters reminded them that, despite stereotypes, those we call "rednecks" have a long history of pro-labor, anti-establishment, and anti-cop sentiments. Plenty of Southerners remember the true roots of rebellion that have nothing to do with rich slave owners wanting to protect their wealth.
"Nascar was literally founded by moonshine runners," said @MichaelRoss42.
User @AriTheRoyal pointed out how it's "so funny how NASCAR is so conservative now when the sport literally wouldn’t exist without bootleggers wanting to run from the cops."
Plenty of others reposted a viral 2020 tweet by an account named "The Ghost of Ole Dale Earnhardt."
"All you f*ckin bootlickers forgot your roots," it reads. "You wanna know why we started hot rodding stock cars? Because we were running from the cops. You know why we ran from the cop? Cause f*ck em."
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