NASCAR Releases Photo Of Noose-Like Rope In Bubba Wallace’s Garage
On Tuesday, the FBI determined that NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace was not the victim of a hate crime, after investigating a rope that appeared to be a noose hanging on…
TALLADEGA, ALABAMA – JUNE 22: Bubba Wallace, driver of the #43 Victory Junction Chevrolet, takes a moment by his car after NASCAR drivers pushed him to the front of the grid as a sign of solidarity with the driver prior to the NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on June 22, 2020 in Talladega, Alabama. A noose was found in the garage stall of NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace at Talladega Superspeedway a week after the organization banned the Confederate flag at its facilities. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
On Tuesday, the FBI determined that NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace was not the victim of a hate crime, after investigating a rope that appeared to be a noose hanging on the garage door at the garage he used at Talladega Superspeedway. They determined through photographs that that rope had been there since October 2019.
"Given the facts presented to us, we would have pursued this with the same sense of urgency and purpose," NASCAR President Steve Phelps said Thursday, according to ESPN. "Upon learning of seeing the noose, our initial reaction was to protect our driver. We're living in a highly-charged and emotional time. What we saw was a symbol of hate, and was only present in one area of the garage -- that of the 43 car of Bubba Wallace. In hindsight, we should have -- I should have -- used the word 'alleged' in our statement. As you can see from the photo, the noose was real, as was our concern for Bubba."
Phelps said NASCAR conducted a thorough sweep of all the garage areas in all 29 tracks in which they race, which encompasses 1,684 garage stalls. "We found only 11 total that had a pull-down rope tied in a knot, and only one noose - the one discovered on Sunday in Bubba Wallace's garage," Phelps said.
INVESTIGATION TIMELINE
Sunday, June 21
~ 4:30 p.m.: NASCAR alerted to the presence of the noose by member of No. 43 team. NASCAR security performs full sweep of the garage. Only the pull rope of the 43 team was discovered to be a noose; all the others were regular ropes.
~ 6 p.m.: NASCAR senior leadership meets, determines need for investigation and begins initial steps of the investigation.
~ 7:30 p.m.: NASCAR President Steve Phelps notifies Bubba Wallace of noose discovered in garage.
~ 10:40 p.m.: NASCAR releases statement after continuing to gather facts and further investigation.
Monday, June 22
– Early Monday a.m.: FBI Birmingham office reaches out to NASCAR.
~ 10 a.m.: FBI arrives at Talladega Superspeedway with 15 field agents to begin investigation. NASCAR provides the FBI with a list of personnel with access to the garage, as well as video and images taken from the weekend and the 2019 fall weekend as well.
– Over the course of the day: FBI interviews race team personnel from multiple teams, NASCAR officials, track, fire and safety personnel and track custodial staff. Talladega Superspeedway also provides the FBI with a list of events that had taken place since October 2019, which is when the new garages opened.
– End of the day: FBI reports interviews are complete for the day and the evidence at that point was inconclusive, with plans to continue its investigation the next morning.
Tuesday, June 23
– Early Tuesday a.m.: NASCAR receives additional video and provides it to the FBI. The video corroborated the testimony from one of the interviews the FBI had conducted earlier that the noose was present in that stall during the fall 2019 Cup event. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI informed NASCAR that their investigation had conclusively found this was not a hate crime.
– 4:10. p.m.: FBI releases statement indicating findings of investigation.
– 4:15 p.m.: After awaiting signal from the FBI, NASCAR releases statement on FBI investigation, with teleconference that follows.
