TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — In an extraordinary act of solidarity with NASCAR’s only Black driver, dozens of drivers pushed the car belonging to Bubba Wallace to the front of the field before Monday’s race as FBI agents nearby tried to find out who left a noose in his garage stall over the weekend.
The stock car series was left reeling and angered by the racist act that came less than two weeks after it banned the Confederate flag on its properties at Wallace’s urging.
The 26-year-old Wallace was surrounded by all 39 other drivers in the moments before the race and they were joined by their crews in a march down pit road as they pushed his No. 43 to the front of the line.
It was a stirring move to support Wallace at a track in the heart of the South where flags have flown for decades and were seen outside the superspeedway all weekend long by fans opposed to NASCAR’s ban.
Wallace drives for Petty, who issued a scathing rebuke after the noose was found that called for the “sick person” to be expelled from NASCAR forever – a move NASCAR President Steve Phelps insisted would happen should they be caught.
