Noose Found In Garage Of Black Nascar Driver Bubba Wallace (Update: FBI Investigation Concludes Incident Was An "Unfortunate Misunderstanding")

Nascar has said it will launch an investigation after a noose was found in the garage of Bubba Wallace, the only black driver in the sport's top three categories
Noose Found In Garage Of Black Nascar Driver Bubba Wallace (Update: FBI Investigation Concludes Incident Was An

Less than two weeks on from the banning of Confederate flags at Nascar events, one of the drivers who’d called for them to go - Bubba Wallace - had a noose left in his garage stall at Talladega Superspeedway.

In a statement, the National National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing said:

“Late this afternoon, Nascar was made aware that a noose was found in the garage stall of the 43 team.

“We are angry and outraged, and cannot state strongly enough how seriously we take this heinous act. We have launched an immediate investigation, and will do everything we can to identify the person(s) responsible and eliminate them from the sport.

“As we have stated unequivocally, there is no place for racism in NASCAR, and this act only strengthens our resolve to make the sport open and welcoming to all.”

Wallace, the only black driver in any of Nascar’s top three categories, posted his own statement about the incident on Twitter. “This will not break me, I will not give in nor will I back down,” he said.

Speaking to CNN before the banning of Confederate flags, Wallace said: “No one should feel uncomfortable when they come to a NASCAR race. So it starts with Confederate flags. Get them out of here. They have no place for them.”

The battle flag of the Confederacy - the side that fought to uphold the institution of slavery in the American Civil War - was, up until recently, a common sight at Nascar races. At the weekend a plane was spotted flying over Talladega towing a Confederate flag and the message ‘defund Nascar’, nonsensically referencing the call of Black Lives Matter protesters to ‘defund the police’.

Update: An FBI investigation into the matter was closed on Tuesday, with the Bureau concluding it was an “unfortunate misunderstanding”. The noose is believed to be part of a pulling system for the door and had been in the garage for some time. None of the other garages had ropes like this, which prompted Nascar to open its initial investigation.

Wallace told NBC News:

“I was relieved, just like many others, to know that it wasn’t targeted towards me, but it’s still frustrating to know that people are always going to test you and always just going to try to debunk you.”

He added, “It was a rope pull for the garage door…but it was definitely in the shape of a noose. It wasn’t a functioning noose…The photo evidence that I’ve seen and that I have in my possession [shows] of what was in our garage is exactly a garage pull. It is. That is a noose. I don’t know when we’ll get to the point to release that image…It’s alerting and it makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.”

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Comments

Ian MacDonald

I can’t wait until they find the guy that did this so we can watch their career burn.

06/22/2020 - 12:19 |
13 | 2

Apparently NASCAR informed the FBI about this and they also said that the person responsible for this is getting a LIFE ban from NASCAR

06/23/2020 - 22:14 |
1 | 0
Jason 9

With so much race baiting going on right now, I’m not going to assume anything without more information. The media is clearly politicizing racism at every chance.

06/22/2020 - 12:40 |
12 | 10
Matt Robinson
Matt Robinson

In reply to by Jason 9

Not assuming anything, but happy to suggest it might be ‘race-baiting’? Great.

06/22/2020 - 15:04 |
16 | 4
Anonymous

Racists everywhere.. They secretly dominate western civilization.

06/22/2020 - 13:25 |
5 | 6
Anonymous

Pretty distasteful imo, certainly would express my distaste over the guy in a different way. That being said I also don’t agree with banning a flag just cuz some guys did some evil stuff centuries ago

06/22/2020 - 14:31 |
3 | 10
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

So you are fine with swastikas too?

06/22/2020 - 17:15 |
3 | 3
MrFusion

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

The confederate flag is a symbol of those states in America who were willing to secede from the United States and go to war over, for the very most part, their right to continue to own slaves.
Its roots are grounded in this and to this day symbolises the idea that the rest of the United States were wrong to put into law that human beings couldn’t be regarded as the property of others.

06/22/2020 - 18:49 |
1 | 1
Anonymous

Also telling someone to kys is not racism last time I checked

06/22/2020 - 14:33 |
4 | 7
LUCKY GOLDEN STAR

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Your argument is just pathetic. F*ck off.

12/09/2020 - 07:29 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

Predictable, but not surprising

06/22/2020 - 14:39 |
1 | 0
Anonymous

as a black man, this doesn’t bother me honestly. There was a time when that noose would have been around his neck. The fact hat someone has to sneak in and leave it behind is representative of the progress that has been maid. WHo care about one idiot that left rope behind….live your life.

06/22/2020 - 17:47 |
4 | 5
Luis Angel

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

As an actual black man, it really bothers that someone is getting a death threat just because of the color of their skin. There are people being lynched in the U.S. and I really don’t want any more to occur. A death treat is not progress, it’s a crime and should be punished. You say “live your life”, but do you know how hard it would be to carry on with your life knowing someone that was able to sneak in your house wants to kill you? Your thoughts are very ignorant.

06/22/2020 - 23:14 |
5 | 0
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

seriously? .. if you cant see the problem in that thats screwed up. Someone essentially threatened to lynch a man trying to live his life, if you brush off the problem here thats terrible

06/22/2020 - 23:50 |
2 | 1
Ben Anderson 1

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Several black men have been found hung in rapid succession. This noose in this garage is not to be taken lightly.

06/23/2020 - 07:47 |
2 | 2
REAL_sluggo

A noose is out of line, yet abortion clinics LITTER black communities en-masse… Chicago, a “Gun-free zone”, has a RECORD number of shootings over the weekend but no Eff Bee Eye, scant few headlines; but the Feds are investigating a noose…

06/22/2020 - 20:26 |
3 | 7
Anonymous

I didin’t know what was a noose until today…

06/22/2020 - 21:31 |
5 | 0
Yusuf Ashari

It’s getting weirder by the day.

06/23/2020 - 02:42 |
0 | 0