With NASCAR’s conclusion of its own inquiry into why a noose was hanging in Bubba Wallace’s garage at Talladega, we break down what happened and what the sport plans to do going forward to prevent similar incidents.
It’s difficult to recall a more emotional, more confusing and yet inspiring few days during NASCAR’s 72-year history than what unfolded since 10:45 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 21.
The roller coaster began when NASCAR released a statement Sunday night that a noose had been found in the Talladega Superspeedway garage stall belonging to the circuit’s only Black full-time driver, Bubba Wallace. It ended Tuesday with the FBI stating it would not pursue federal charges after its investigation at Talladega found the noose formed from a garage pull rope had been there since at least October. In between, there was outrage and an unprecedented show of support for Wallace, perhaps more than for any driver since Dale Earnhardt won the 1998 Daytona 500.
Late Tuesday, there was relief among people in the NASCAR garage, some embarrassment among those same people, and gleeful celebrations on social media from those who from the beginning had claimed it was a hoax. But just two days later, NASCAR on Thursday completed its investigation, with president Steve Phelps saying „the noose was real“ and „our initial reaction was to protect our driver.“
We review an eventful few days and try to answer questions many have asked as NASCAR and the FBI wrapped up their investigations this week.
Yes. NASCAR officials and FBI investigators have not disputed that. Rope pulldowns are installed on the roller doors in every bay of the Talladega Superspeedway garage. According to NASCAR, every one of those pulldowns was checked as part of the FBI investigation, and the only one of those fashioned into a noose was the rope in garage No.4, which was assigned to the Richard Petty Motorsports No.43 Chevy this past weekend.
FBI special agent Johnnie Sharp Jr. led a team of 15 FBI investigators as they inspected the garage and interviewed multiple people around Talladega Superspeedway, including Wallace. In his official statement, written with U. S. Attorney Jay E. Town, Sharp used the word „noose“ four times and never disputed it was a noose — saying only that the timing of its hanging in garage No.4, at least as early as October 2019, meant it was not directed at Wallace and thus was not a federal crime.
Wallace was not purposely assigned to garage 4 at Talladega. Garage workspaces are assigned to teams per their rank in the NASCAR Cup Series standings. Furthermore, because of COVID-19 pandemic-related social distancing policies, team garage assignments have been even more spread out than normal, making the idea of slotting a certain team in a certain garage seem even less plausible. The FBI stated that „nobody could have known Mr. Wallace would be assigned to garage number 4 last week,“ and that, as a result, no federal crime had been committed.
When asked about how frequently he has seen door pulls shaped in such a fashion, Bubba Wallace said on ESPN’s First Take on Wednesday: „I’ve been racing since I was 9 years old; I’m 26 now, I’ll be 27 this year, and I’ve never seen a garage pull like that.
