NASCAR: Charlie White And Meryl Davis Booed At Event After Lackluster Grand Marshal Outing
It looks like NASCAR’s Charlie White and Meryl Davis booing incident this past weekend in Michigan is riling up fans of the Olympic champions. Charlie and Meryl were asked to be the grand marshals for the Pure Michigan 400 on Sunday, but they didn’t get a particularly warm welcome. The Michigan natives actually got booed.
Yahoo! Sports shares that NASCAR’s Charlie White and Meryl Davis booing came as the two tossed out the traditional “Drivers, start your engines” line. The planners of the race may have thought that asking the Michigan natives to take part in the event was a natural pairing, but it seems fans at the Michigan International Speedway disagreed. Some would say that Meryl and Charlie’s presentation of the iconic line didn’t carry quite the passion and enthusiasm that fans wanted, and that’s what led to the booing.
While Meryl Davis and Charlie White are naturals on the ice, and of course they did a great job this past spring on Dancing With the Stars, it seems they were quite out of their element when it came to being grand marshals at the NASCAR event.
Despite being booed at the NASCAR event, Charlie White and Meryl Davis seemed to have a good time. Meryl tweeted a few pictures from the Pure Michigan 400 and wrote, “Had a lot of fun at the track today! Thanks to @PureMichigan and the #MIS for having us!!” Their fans were, of course, quite supportive.
ESPN shared a clip of the NASCAR Charlie White and Meryl Davis booing moment, and there was no mistaking the audience feedback for anything other than criticism. The moment may have been a fun one for DWTS fans or Meryl and Charlie fans, but it is easy to see why it was widely panned by NASCAR and sports fans.
The Detroit Free Press notes that this was Meryl and Charlie’s first visit to the track, and they were rooting for Austin Dillon. The two met Dillon earlier this month at the Arctic Edge Ice Arena, where he took a few skating lessons from them. Would the Olympic skaters turn the tables and start taking up racing on the track? It seems unlikely. As for Dillon’s finish Sunday, NASCAR results indicate that he finished in 22nd place in the Pure Michigan 400 on Sunday.
Was the NASCAR Charlie White and Meryl Davis booing moment fair game given their lackluster introduction for the race, or were fans a bit too harsh?
[Image via Yahoo! Sports]
