A Democratic congresswoman from Minnesota wants the Pentagon to strip U.S. Army logos off the NASCAR stock-car circuit, the National Journal reports. Rep. Betty McCollum calls the $7 million spent annually by the Department of Defense on pro racing sponsorships wasteful.
The Pentagon had no comment but a NASCAR spokesman called the de-funding proposal a bad idea given that fans "are the kind of people who fight America's wars."
The disagreement evokes one of the red-state/blue-state skirmishes over culture and politics that played out everywhere from the 2004 presidential election to the big-screen comedy Talladega Nights, whose hero, Ricky Bobby, is a God-fearing Southerner. But NASCAR sponsors races in 38 states as well as in Canada and New Mexico and much of its growth of late has come outside of its original home base of the South.
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