NASCAR, FBI Investigating Noose Found in Bubba Wallace’s Garage Stall
The United States Department of Justice and the FBI are joining NASCAR to investigate a noose found in Bubba Wallace’s garage stall Sunday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway.
Statement from U.S. Department of Justice that it is reviewing the noose found in Bubba Wallace’s garage stall Sunday at Talladega: #nascar pic.twitter.com/QNhAEouEPj
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) June 22, 2020
NASCAR President Steve Phelps held a conference call Monday where he addressed a few questions from the media.
If/when found, Steve Phelps says offender “Unequivocally” will be “banned from this sport for life.”
— Marty Smith (@MartySmithESPN) June 22, 2020
Phelps also said he couldn’t be sure there wasn’t a security breach, but there’s a small amount of people who would have had the access to get to Wallace’s garage stall.
Social media has suggested the noose was a staged event, and Phelps was furious with that insinuation.
NASCAR president Steve Phelps on tweets from people who believe noose was a staged event: “That is something that personally offends me. This is a terrible, terrible act that has happened. For those who would think this is staged, I don’t even know where to go with that, frankly”
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) June 22, 2020
Wallace, the only full-time black driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, recently pushed the league to eliminate the allowance of the Confederate Flag at race events. 48 hours after Wallace’s request, the sport banned the flag at all NASCAR events.
Wallace released a statement on Twitter last night.
— Bubba Wallace (@BubbaWallace) June 22, 2020