*A Wisconsin high school golf coach resigned on Friday (Nov. 10), one day after sending racist tweets to Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr., who next season will become the first full-time African-American NASCAR Cup driver since 1971.
On Wednesday, Wallace celebrated the distinction on Twitter:
There is only 1 driver from an African American background at the top level of our sport..I am the 1. You’re not gonna stop hearing about “the black driver” for years. Embrace it, accept it and enjoy the journey..
— Darrell Wallace Jr (@BubbaWallace) November 8, 2017
According to ESPN, Cambridge High School coach Brent Nottestad responded several times to Wallace, calling him a clown in one tweet, and using another to reference Wallace’s grandmother, who died a year ago. “Granny Jan die in a police shooting?” Nottestad wrote, addressing a tribute to Wallace’s grandmother that was pinned to his profile.
Nottestad’s tweets have since been deleted, but according to The Cambridge News, Nottestad also tweeted, “Hey @BubbaWallace. Please quit with, ‘I’m black’ bs. You’re terrible. There are 1423 more credible drivers to get that ride than you.” Commenting on a photo of Wallace and a fan, Nottestad tweeted: “Almost looks like going to the zoo.”
The number 1423 is often used as a reference to a white supremacist group, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
Wallace responded to Nottestad’s tweets on Wednesday night, saying they make him look “pathetic and weak”:
You’re a smart guy? a disgusting but smart guy right? This makes you look pathetic and weak, it’s sad. You said what you meant and now worried about the repercussions..that I pray to God will happen. Oh and my granny hopes so too??
— Darrell Wallace Jr (@BubbaWallace) November 9, 2017
Wow, I feel truly sorry for your kids. Again..to have so much hate towards somebody you’ve never met. Hope your kids grow up to be the exact opposite of a father you are.. https://t.co/yxLhvjjxQ8
— Darrell Wallace Jr (@BubbaWallace) November 9, 2017
Nottestad, who coached for four years at the school, resigned Thursday, according to a news release from the School District of Cambridge.
He told ESPN via direct message that he was disgusted with himself for writing the tweets.
“I wish I could go back in time but I can’t,” Nottestad wrote. “I honestly don’t know what I was thinking. Perhaps trying to be a tough guy behind a computer screen? I don’t know.”
Nottestad added that he had no clue what 1423 meant.
“I assure you, I had no idea of its meaning,” he said. “It was merely a random number, I can promise you that! I have let a lot of people down and I have lost a job I truly love doing.
“I have driven the axe further into the civil rights fight when we are trying to remove it as a country. I am so sorry for what I’ve done. I am going to reach out to Bubba soon. I don’t expect him to forgive me, but I gotta give it a shot.”
Meanwhile, Nottestad wasn’t the only fan who didn’t appreciate Bubba’s original tweet about being NASCAR’s lone black driver. Another supportive fan had to explain the context.
He’s not pointing it out here. He simply responding to hate that he was getting from an article that someone wrote about him calling him ‘The black driver.’ He’s just saying that, similar to Danica, you’re not gonna stop hearing it, not from him. But the media outlets around him.
— eric (@eric_gambrel) November 9, 2017
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