NASCAR to investigate after noose found in Wallace’s garage

Bubba Wallace, the lone Black driver in the elite Cup Series, drives the No. 43 Chevrolet for racing icon Richard Petty.

Bubba Wallace stands for the national anthem before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race in Homestead.

Thunderstorms washed out the NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, an event further dampened Sunday night when news broke that a noose was found in Black driver Bubba Wallace’s garage stall.

Hours after Confederate flags were displayed outside the track - some flying from pickup trucks - in protest of NASCAR’s Wallace-led ban of the flags, the sanctioning body said it was made aware of the noose late in the afternoon.

 

“We are angry and outraged, and cannot state strongly enough how seriously we take this heinous act,” NASCAR said.

“We have launched an immediate investigation, and will do everything we can to identify the person(s) responsible and eliminate them from the sport.”

Wallace, the lone Black driver in the elite Cup Series, drives the No. 43 Chevrolet for racing icon Richard Petty.

“The despicable act of racism and hatred leaves me incredibly saddened and serves as a painful reminder of how much further we have to go as a society and how persistent we must be in the fight against racism,” Wallace wrote on Twitter.

“As my mother told me today, ‘They are just trying to scare you.’ This will not break me, I will not give in nor will I back down. I will continue to proudly stand for what I believe in.”