IndyCar's One Nation, One Race' controversy is no surprise amid its rightward drift

"IndyCar is at risk of tripping over itself in its rush to return to prominence. As part of its promotional push for the Freedom 250, a Washington DC street race sanctioned by a Donald Trump executive order, IndyCar unveiled a licensed T-shirt that quickly drew attention online, and not just for its $50 price tag. The design featured a helmeted racing driver rendered entirely in white, posed in a manner that appeared to echo the Lincoln Memorial statue, set against a red-striped backdrop, with the words One Nation, One Race."

"It was so nice of IndyCar to let Stephen Miller design a shirt, one Reddit commenter wrote. Ryan Erik King, a writer for the automotive culture site Jalopnik, slammed the shirt on X as incredibly insensitive and inflammatory. And while some online commentators hastened to note that the shirt made no direct reference to skin color, the broader imagery especially the Roman fasces the driver's arms rest on (iconography later adopted by fascist movements) carried unmistakable implications."

"That reading was sharpened by the stark white racing driver set against Lincoln's seat, and by the Freedom 250's direct association with Trump, who effectively branded the event as a Maga spectacle with his executive order a far cry from the Emancipation Proclamation, to be sure. Ultimately, the shirt described as a fun graphic tee was pulled from IndyCar's online store"

IndyCar is positioned as a potential summer standout as Formula One fatigue grows and American audiences seek fresh racing appeal. IndyCar’s promotional push for the Freedom 250, a Washington DC street race tied to a Donald Trump executive order, included a licensed T-shirt that drew online attention for its design and price. The shirt showed a white helmeted driver posed to echo the Lincoln Memorial statue, with the slogan “One Nation, One Race,” and Roman fasces imagery beneath the driver’s arms. Critics argued the symbolism carried fascist implications, intensified by the stark white figure against Lincoln’s seat and the event’s association with Trump. The shirt was removed from IndyCar’s online store after the backlash.

Read at www.theguardian.com