NASCAR competitors came together to support Wallace, pushing his No. 43 car to the front after a noose was found in his garage stall.
A racist act at Talladega Superspeedway meant to create division instead brought the NASCAR community closer than ever to protect one of their own.
Hours after the postponement of Sunday’s GEICO 500, NASCAR announced that a noose was found in the garage stall of Bubba Wallace, the only African-American driver on the circuit. Prior to the event’s rescheduled start on Monday afternoon, Wallace’s competitors made it clear that such racism would not be tolerated.
Wallace’s No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet was pushed to the front of the field as drivers and crews literally stood behind him in a show of support. Standing alongside Wallace was NASCAR legend and team owner Richard Petty. The seven-time champion and winner of a Cup Series record 200 races has avoided coming to the track for safety concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic, but came to Talladega in support of the current driver of his iconic No. 43.
After the invocation and national anthem, each of the 39 other drivers competing in Monday’s race hugged Wallace before taking to their own cars. Wallace began the race in the 24th position, placed via a random draw earlier in the week. Additionally, the Talladega infield bore the stenciled message “#IStandWithBubba”.
NASCAR President Steve Phelps addressed the media about the incident about two hours before the green flag waved at Talladega. Phelps confirmed that NASCAR is working in conjunction with the FBI to find the perpetrator.
“This is a difficult time for our sport. We are going to react swiftly,” Phelps said. “We’re going to use all the means, resources at our disposal and those of the FBI to make sure this person or persons are caught swiftly and severely.”
Phelps said that the perpetrator will be “unequivocally” banned from the sport when discovered.
“They will be banned from this sport for life. There is no room for this at all. We won’t tolerate it. They won’t be here. I don’t care who they are, they will not be here.”
As protests and demonstrations against systemic racism have risen throughout the country, Wallace has been one of the most prevalent voices advocating for change. He was a driving voice behind NASCAR’s ban of the Confederate battle flag and his car at Martinsville Speedway bore the “#BlackLivesMatter” slogan.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags