Steven Rebenstorf has numerous flags flying atop his canopy tent inside Daytona International Speedway.
The Confederate flag is front and center.
It’s been like that for years. And the 57-year-old Rebenstorf has no plans to take it down – not even if NASCAR decides to ban the embattled flag from its racetracks.
“They’d have to come and get it,” Rebenstorf said Saturday, pointing out that his American flag purposely flies a few inches higher than the rest.
Rebenstorf and others staunchly defended their Confederate flags at NASCAR’s first race in the South since the racing series and its tracks urged fans to no longer wave the banner. Dozens were scattered throughout the vast infield all weekend leading to Sunday’s race.
“It kills me that NASCAR is jumping on the bandwagon,” said 55-year-old Paul Stevens of nearby Port Orange. “They should just let it pass, let everything die down. But NASCAR is too quick to try to be politically correct like everybody else.”
NASCAR took a stance on the Confederate flag after last month’s South Carolina church massacre. It backed Gov. Nikki Haley’s call to remove it from the Statehouse grounds and noted it doesn’t allow the flag on anything it sanctions. The series stopped short of banning fans from displaying the flag at its events, but Daytona and 29 other tracks asked fans to refrain from flying them.
Not everyone obliged. Daytona also offered to exchange Confederate flags for American flags this weekend, and track officials said a few made the swap Sunday morning. (continue reading at WSMV)