Confederate Flag Burnt At Martinsville Speedway To Protest NASCAR No-Kneeling Policy

A self-titled citizen activist protested against the auto-racing company NASCAR at the Martinsville Speedway in Henry County, Virginia, by burning a Confederate Flag during a race Sunday.

According to NBC News affiliate WSLS, Pennsylvania Attorney Gene Stilp got the idea to protest against the NASCAR after the owners — Richard Petty and Richard Childress — said they would fire any of their employees who sat or kneeled during the national anthem.

The statement by the owners came after Trump had repeatedly called on owners to fire the players for not honoring the pregame ritual during similar protests by NFL players.

"It was at the same time that football players were taking a knee and Trump made those comments," Stilp said.

At Sunday’s NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series playoffs, Stilp brought a flag that had the Confederate flag on one side and the Nazi flag on the other. He burned his flag in front of the raceway entrance and also took a knee in solidarity with NFL players.

Justifying his actions, Stilp said: "The flag is a combined Confederate and Nazi flag, one image on each side. We're doing that because they both show a similar, misguided value system. The misguided value systems include racism, hatred, bigotry, white supremacy, fascism, slavery.”

However, a number of fans at the race were flying the Confederate battle flag. One of the NASCAR fans, Corey Cauble told WSLS: "We're not here to offend anybody. Just what we believe in, states rights, stuff like that."

"Nowhere on that flag says hate, racial or anything. It's all heritage, man... My great, great grandfather died during the Civil War and both my daughters are Daughters of the Confederacy," another fan and member of the audience fan Mark Bailey said.

Stilp said he believed the fans, although meant well, were misguided. "They say heritage, not hate. Well, the heritage of the Confederate flag is hate," Stilp said.

Stilp added that he hoped his statement might convince some of the people at the race to put the flag away.

"People have to realize that minorities, et cetera, see that flag as a source of intimidation. It has been used, face it, by the KKK, by white supremacist groups for a long time," he stated.

The activist has previously held similar protests in Talladega Super-Speedway in Alabama and at a NASCAR event in Dover . On Sunday, he said his next stop on the NASCAR circuit will be Fort Worth, Texas. He also hopes to continue his protests in the future in his home state of Pennsylvania.