At the height of the George Floyd frenzy, NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace who is half black, called for the league to finally ban the confederate flag from it’s sporting events. The league did so quickly, to the delight of some fans who felt it was long overdue, but to the chagrin of others who feel NASCAR caved to social pressure has forgotten it’s roots.
NASCAR officials said that a noose was discovered hanging in Wallace’s garage stall at Talladega SuperSpeedway in Alabama at Sunday’s race. The noose was found on the very day that the ban of the confederate battle emblem was to begin with fans being allowed back in the stands. It official started last week at the Homestead Miami race, where only about 1000 military service personnel were in attendance.
Wallace, a 26-year-old Alabama native, drives the #43 for Richard Petty Motorsports. In response to the incident he said:
Today’s 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.
Over the last several weeks, I have been overwhelmed by the support from people across the NASCAR industry including other drivers and team members in the garage.
Together, our sport has made a commitment to driving real change and championing a community that is accepting and welcoming of everyone. Nothing is more important and we will not be deterred by the reprehensible actions of those who seek to spread hate
NASCAR has launched a full throttle investigation and plans to root out the person(s) responsible and “eliminate them from the sport.”
NASCAR officials released a statement in response to the incident:
