Monday’s GEICO 500 at the Talladega Superspeedway may have been one of the consequential races in NASCAR’s 72-year history but not because of anything that happened on the track.

As political upheaval plagues the country, NASCAR found last week it was not immune to those changes. After taking the unprecedented step of banning the display of the Confederate flag at events, the GEICO 500, originally scheduled for Sunday, was one of the first tests of the new policy. However, it did not go without controversy, as a noose was discovered in the garage stall of Bubba Wallace, the series’ only black driver.

The news drew the attention of the entire country, which perhaps came with the addition of many new viewers for the event that was completed on Monday. Despite being overshadowed by the controversy, Ryan Blaney took the checkered flag by completing a last-lap pass to finish ahead of Ricky Stenhouse by a margin of .007 seconds.

“I just kind of blocked, just trying to block the best we could,” Blaney said following the win. “Ride the top, ride the bottom. The 20 (Jones) got to my outside and I tried to go up there to slow him down and I’m not sure, I don’t know three-wide, but just kind of trying to beat and bang to the line and things like that. We just edged it out, but I’m really proud of this whole Menards/Sylvania Ford Mustang team. It’s been a cool year so far and I’m really excited to get our first win of the year at a cool place.”

Blaney’s win is his second-consecutive win at Talladega Superspeedway. In what was also a weather-delayed race, Blaney finished ahead of Ryan Newman by a similar margin last October.

One of the more remarkable moments came prior to the green flag. Before race, the entire field stood behind Wallace. Wallace’s competitors pushed his #43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet to the front of the field, where he was joined by team owner Richard Petty. Despite the controversy, Wallace finished in 14th place.

We rally around @BubbaWallace. Fellow drivers push his No. 43 car to the front in Talladega.#IStandWithBubba pic.twitter.com/n0YwN1qq5l

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) June 22, 2020

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly and host of Huntsville’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN.