Bubba Wallace Garage Noose: NASCAR to Find Racists & “Eliminate Them From The Sport”

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Late afternoon on Sunday — around the time that NASCAR DFS fans were lamenting the rain delayed race from Alabama’s famed Talladega Superspeedway — members of driver Bubba Wallace’s race team discovered that someone had gained access to their team garage and left a noose prominently displayed.

If you haven’t been paying attention, Wallace is the sport’s only Black full-time driver and has been at the forefront of leading some of NASCAR’s recent changes. It seems as though Wallace is having actual lasting impact in his sport after his recent statements NASCAR made a seismic shift in policy, banning the display of the confederate flag at all NASCAR events. It appears as though there is a genuine desire among most of the sport’s executives and many of the drivers to make their sport more inclusive.

Driver Denny Hamlin, for example, is driving the Talladega race in a fresh coat of paint different from his normal FedEx sponsor (this is more meaningful in the NASCAR world):

Of course, the bigots were out in force as well, still offended that they’re not allowed to fly their loser laundry anymore. One idiot went so far as to get a plane flying a banner demanding to “Defund NASCAR.”

Bubba Wallace’s team confirmed that they removed the noose from the garage before Wallace saw it himself, but the message was clear. If you’re questioning why this is an issue, you need to familiarize yourself with our nation’s — and frankly, the South’s — disgusting history of lynching Black men. The noose is a very direct, very explicit symbol of racism. This isn’t a dog whistle, this is standing over the bowl opening a bag of kibble and yelling that it’s time to eat.

Wallace handled the incident with his usual class, posting a statement on Twitter later in the evening.

For their part, NASCAR committed to finding out who perpetrated the incident and running them out of the sport entirely. The organization released a strong statement that was later tweeted by driver Michael McDowell along with an emotional statement of his own.

In a story just breaking on Monday afternoon, 82-year-old retired NASCAR legend and No. 43 team owner, Richard Petty, has announced that he will attend today’s restarted race in solidarity with Wallace. Petty has not been to a NASCAR race since the outbreak of COVID-19 to remain socially distanced and safe, yet the octogenarian said “the most important thing for me right now is hugging my driver.”

Many of Bubba Wallace’s fellow drivers sent messages of support.

 

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Honestly, those just keep on going. There are so many good positive messages from the drivers and teams it’s simply stunning that the fans don’t get it. The tragic thing, looking through these on twitter, is that all of them have terrible racist comments as immediate replies, revealing the deep-rooted nature of this problem in this sport.

Legends from other sports weighed in to lend Bubba Wallace their support as well.

ESPN’s Marty Smith himself had a strong reaction in a conversation on SportsCenter late last night. The Alabama native is clearly disgusted by the incident and calls for change in his state, the south, the sport and across the country.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey released a statement about the Bubba Wallace incident on Monday.

And Alabama Senate candidate Doug Jones weighed in on Twitter.

Here’s hoping that a sport that seems able to catch every extra twist of the wrench and every additional pound per square inch of air in the tires in these garages is able to use that surveillance to quickly catch the perpetrator of this disgusting incident.

That racial inequality is still an issue in 2020 at all should be appalling to everyone in the world. That it’s actually being debated — albeit mostly by people lacking in both teeth and brain cells — is a frightening, disturbing and deeply disappointing reality.

In case there’s any doubt where we’re coming from, we stand with Bubba Wallace:

Today’s race re-start is at 3:00 p.m. EST. Go 43!

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