Federal authorities on Monday confirmed they are investigating the discovery of a noose found in the Talladega Superspeedway garage stall of Bubba Wallace, NASCAR’s only Black full-time driver who successfully pushed the stock car series to ban the Confederate flag at its venues earlier this month.
“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.”
Richard Petty, seven-time NASCAR champion and owner of Wallace’s famed No. 43, was headed to Talladega to support his driver.
In an act of solidarity, all the NASCAR drivers escorted Wallace’s No. 43 car on to the track at Talladega on Monday for the race that was postponed by rain on Sunday.
The 26-year-old Wallace has not commented since a statement on social media late Sunday in which he said the “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.”