NASCAR Cup Series fans were enjoying Blanco Brown’s rendition of the national anthem ahead of the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway Sunday. That is, until, the ending, in which a mysterious word was belted out.
Although we’re still on the hunt for which word came out of the country artist’s mouth, we can confidently say it wasn’t “brave.”
The screech-like noise has left NASCAR fans perplexed, many chiming in with their thoughts on social media.
“Sounded like he got kicked in the nuts for the final note,” one fan wrote on Twitter.
While the above sounds like it could be an accurate description, nobody would know unless there’s some amateur footage of Brown’s performance out there. FOX‘s cameras cut away just before the end of Brown’s anthem, returning after the part in question. Once the camera’s came back to Brown, he had finished up — leaving what happened up to speculation.
One thing’s for sure: Brown’s rendition of the national anthem has entered Roseanne Barr territory. And that’s not a good thing.
“Let’s switch over to NASCAR where Blanco Brown is doing a solid job of the National Anthem, aaaaaaaand then he puts it in the wall on the last note,” another fan wrote.
Others took exception not only with the ending, but of FOX‘s overall handling of the performance.
“Another embarrassing National Anthem,” one fan tweeted. “Ashamed of these people butchering this song over and over. And once again Fox only shows 2 seconds of the 4 ship T-38 flyover. Nobody cares about seeing 55 cutaways of random people. Show the action!”
NASCAR Cup Series at Atlanta Caution-Less
The race itself has been largely caution-less, with Bubba Wallace’s single-car spin on Lap 10 the lone disruption. Wallace spun out while coming out of Turn 2, hitting the apron-side wall. The car appeared to suffer minimal damage and Wallace’s team managed to get the car back onto the track before the eight-minute damaged vehicle policy clock expired. Wallace met minimum speed and started back up two laps down.
Daytona 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is out in front in Stage 3. Pole-sitter Joey Logano led the duration of Stage 1.