FOR more than 70 years, the Confederate flag was a common and complicated sight at Nascar races. Through the civil rights era right on through the season opener at Daytona in February, the flag dotted infield campsites and was waved in grandstands by fans young and old.

As the nation — and at last, Nascar — comes to grips with race relations in the wake of the death of George Floyd, it was time: The flag is no longer welcome in the stock car series.

Nascar banned the flag at its races and all its venues on Wednesday, a dramatic step by a series steeped in Southern tradition and proud of its good ol’ boy roots.