Nascar Will Offer to Swap Confederate Flag at Daytona Not Ban it

Days after Nascar Chairman Brian France said the Confederate flag should be eliminated at future events, Daytona International Speedway announced it would conduct a flag exchange at this weekend's race.

Fans will be offered the opportunity to trade Confederate flags for U.S. flags ahead of Sunday's Coke Zero 400. If fans choose not to switch, they will be allowed to fly their Confederate flags.

"We want to have an event open and inclusive of everyone," Daytona President Joie Chitwood said. "Celebrating our nation's birthday, we thought this was the best thing to do."

For more than a decade, Nascar has prevented the Confederate flag from appearing on any official materials or race cars. But it hasn't taken steps to stop fans from raising the flag above campsites and motor homes in the infield of racetracks in places like Darlington, S.C., Talladega, Ala., and Atlanta, Ga.

Mr. France said Saturday that he wanted to change that. In a statement, he said, "We will be as aggressive as possible to disassociate Nascar events from an offensive and divisive symbol. We are working with the industry right now to achieve that goal."

Achieving that won't be easy. Raising flags is part of Nascar's tradition, and telling fans not to fly a flag risks estranging them, said Humpy Wheeler, the former president of Charlotte Motor Speedway. The sport has lost about 15% of its fans over the past decade, according to Luker on Trends-ESPN Sports Poll, and Mr. Wheeler said this "might be that other thing that turns fans off."

Nascar hasn't said how it will eliminate the flag from the infield at future races. Doing so will require cooperation from the sport's two largest racetrack operators: International Speedway Corp. and Speedway Motorsports Inc. Over the past five years, ticket sales at those publicly traded companies, which host more than half Nascar's top races, declined 23% to $230.5 million from $299.6 million.

"We need to get there, but we need to be thoughtful on how we get there," said Mr. Chitwood, who also is executive vice president of International Speedway Corp.

Daytona is the most historic track on the Nascar racing circuit and host of the sport's biggest race. It is one of 12 racetracks owned by International Speedway Corp. The France family, which founded Nascar in the 1940s, has a major stake in publicly traded International Speedway, and chief executive Lesa France Kennedy is Brian France's sister.

Mr. Chitwood said Daytona developed the voluntary flag exchange as a first step in the process. Spectators planning to camp in the infield for this weekend's race at Daytona will be greeted by Daytona staff as they go through a security canopy. In addition to checking tickets, staff will offer to trade flags for a U.S. flag.

"We didn't want to restrict our flags," Mr. Chitwood said. "We think everyone should be flying the American flag this weekend."

Write to Tripp Mickle at [e-mail]

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