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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jenna Fryer</p><p>AP Auto Racing Writer</p></bylineMeta></div><style>
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<div class="neCaption">A Confederate flags fly in the infield as cars come out of turn one during a NASCAR auto race at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala. NASCAR&#8217;s national series tracks announced Thursday that they are asking fans to refrain from displaying the Confederate flag at races. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_NASCAR-ConfederateFlag.jpg</photo0><caption0>A Confederate flags fly in the infield as cars come out of turn one during a NASCAR auto race at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala. NASCAR&#8217;s national series tracks announced Thursday that they are asking fans to refrain from displaying the Confederate flag at races. </caption0></div></div>
<p>DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. &#8212; NASCAR&#8217;s national series tracks announced Thursday that they are asking fans to refrain from displaying the Confederate flag at races following the deadly attack at a South Carolina church two weeks ago.</p><p>The facilities vowed to have the most &#8220;welcoming environments in all of sports and entertainment.&#8221;</p><p>The statement was signed by International Speedway Corp. and Speedway Motorsports Inc. &#8212; which own most of the tracks in the Sprint Cup Series, stretching from Florida to New York to California &#8212; as well as 30 specific tracks. It also includes independent tracks such as Tony Stewart&#8217;s Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, Pocono Raceway and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.</p><p>&#8220;We are asking our fans and partners to join us in a renewed effort to create an all-inclusive, even more welcoming atmosphere for all who attend our events,&#8221; the statement read. &#8220;This will include the request to refrain from displaying the Confederate flag at our facilities and NASCAR events.&#8221;</p><p>The move follows NASCAR&#8217;s statement last week reiterating that the flag is banned from official use at its events. And it comes ahead of Sunday&#8217;s race at Daytona International Speedway &#8212; the first in the South since the mid-June attack that left nine black churchgoers dead in Charleston. The suspect had embraced Confederate symbols, including the battle flag.</p><p>Daytona is planning to hold a voluntary exchange program this weekend in which fans can swap any flag of their choice for an American flag.</p><p>&#8220;We want to be inclusive to everyone, and the last thing you want is for anyone to come to a sporting event and really not enjoy that experience because of symbols that really represent things we&#8217;re not proud of,&#8221; track President Joie Chitwood said. &#8220;Going forward, we&#8217;ll really have to look at where that other flag goes, because it doesn&#8217;t have a place in our sport and we&#8217;ve got to take a thoughtful process on how we get to that place.&#8221;</p><p>ISC, a sister company of NASCAR, owns 13 facilities that signed the statement. SMI, the Bruton Smith-owned rival to ISC, had its eight properties listed as supporting NASCAR. Indianapolis Motor Speedway was among the independents taking part.</p><p>Drivers including Dale Earnhardt Jr. have been outspoken against the flag. NASCAR Chairman Brian France last week called the flag a symbol he finds offensive and said he wants to be as aggressive as possible in barring it from sanctioned events.</p><p>France said he was unsure what steps track promoters can legally take to prohibit the flag and acknowledged that enforcing a ban would be challenging when it comes to tens of thousands of fans on the sprawling properties. France stressed that the flag, while part of NASCAR&#8217;s roots as a series for old bootleggers, is not indicative of what the sport represents and he had hinted that the series was working with the industry on options.</p><p>&#8220;Obviously, we have our roots in the South, there are events in the South, it&#8217;s part of our history like it is for the country,&#8221; France told The Associated Press. &#8220;But it needs to be just that, part of our history. It isn&#8217;t part of our future.&#8221;</p>

NASCAR tracks unite, ask fans not to fly Confederate flag