NASCAR Retors Washington State Rep. Seaquist Remarks

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To no one's surprise (in this newsroom anyway), NASCAR fans in the Piedmont don’t like being stereotyped as toothless, white trash rednecks.

The remarks were made after a group including Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip went before Washington state lawmakers about wanting to build a race track in the Evergreen State.

Washington state representative Larry Seaquist made this comment about NASCAR fans with southern roots: “These people are not the kind of people you would want living next door to you. They’d be the ones with the junky cars in the front yard and would try to slip around the law.”

Local NASCAR fans we talked with agreed to disagree with the stereotype.

"I do take tremendous offense at that negative response," said Helen Brooks. "It is part of the cultural heritage here,” said fellow fan Bill Schilling. “It's not something people probably would appreciate being made fun of."

At Richard Childress Vineyards, we ran into some non-race fans, who also think the stereotypes of the sport and the south are unfair.

“I don’t think this man has ever been to North Carolina to see what we're really like,” said Bert Wood. “He (Rep. Seaquist) has no taste either and he's obviously not very intelligent."

What does NASCAR team owner and wine expert Richard Childress think about all of this?

“Evidently he knows absolutely nothing about what he's talking about,” said Childress. “I was always brought up to say if you can't say something good about someone, don't say it, but I'm going to brake this rule. This guy is full of _____" (you can fill in the blank).

Another Washington state lawmaker made some nasty comments toward Richard Petty. Speaker of the House Frank Chopp implied the King of NASCAR looked like a drunken felon, saying “You mean the guy who got picked up for DUI?"

For the record, Mr. Petty does not drink alcohol. A spokesperson for Petty said Chopp later apologized and the team owner considers the issue over and done with.

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Note: Here is how you can contact Rep. Larry Seaquist

E-mail: seaquist.larry@leg.wa.gov
Phone: (360) 786-7802
Snail mail:

Rep. Larry Seaquist
P.O. Box 40600
317 John L. O’Brien Bldg.
Olympia, WA 98504-0600

Source: MyFox WGHP | NASCAR Nation Fires Back at Left Coast Lawmakers