NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series competitor Tim Viens and CMI Motorsports are well represented in a new rap music video for the song Back the Blue by Forgiato Blow featuring Byrson Gray.
The two-minute and 27 second video is basically a promo for the Back the Blue movement as well as the Donald Trump 2020 Presidential Campaign.
Viens makes many appearances in the video, at several points he is holding up paper money, which have been altered to have Trump’s face on them. He also poses leaning on the front of the No. 49 Trump 2020 CMI Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado. There is a Donald Trump mannequin propped on the back of one of the trucks, but I’m curious why the actual real Trump didn’t appear in this obvious ringing endorsement of his campaign.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoJf9OwICds
While the song’s message will understandably not be everyone’s cup of tea, and it may even be seen as controversial as it has been made public just days after police were captured on film shooting Jacob Blake, a potentially unarmed black man, seven times in the back in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Blake is reportedly paralyzed after the shooting. The officer’s response is currently under investigation.
The shooting of Blake comes on the heels of the death of George Floyd, another black man killed in an incident with police. That incident took place in Minneapolis, MN back in May. After Officer Derek Chauvin was filmed with his knee pressed his into Floyd’s neck for several minutes while Floyd pleaded that he couldn’t breathe, Floyd passed away. This situation set off a chain of protests and riots across the United States and even the world.
Despite the controversial nature of the song’s message, and the questionable timing of it’s release, it is a well done music video and the production quality is decent.
Viens, 43, has made six starts for CMI Motorsports this season after originally beginning the year with Affarrano Motorsports. After sever embarrassing failed trips through inspection with the No. 03 team, Viens made the move to Ray Ciccarelli’s CMI Motorsports team.
Viens has an average finish of 28.5 in his six starts this season, his best finish is 24th. He has also scored his first two lead lap finishes of his NASCAR National Series career in CMI equipment. This week, Viens will drive the No. 47 Mike Harmon Racing entry in the NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Daytona.
Ciccarelli, the team owner of CMI Motorsports made a mini-shockwave through a post on his personal Facebook account earlier in the season following NASCAR’s decision to ban the Confederate flag from race tracks and also allow kneeling during the National Anthem. After his controversial post, Ciccarelli deleted his social media accounts temporarily. And in an interview with TobyChristie.com, Ciccarelli said that his comments on Facebook were, “misconstrued.”
Exclusive: Ray Ciccarelli Wants to Set The Record Straight About His ‘Misconstrued’ Facebook Post
*Notice of correction: This story originally stated that Jacob Blake was unarmed at the time of shooting. While it appeared he may have been unarmed in the video, there has been no official report that states he was unarmed. An investigation into the shooting is taking place. This has been amended in the story above.
