Rope found hanging in Wallace’s garage was a coincidence, not hate crime

The FBI discovered Tuesday that Bubba Wallace was not the victim of a hate crime at Talladega Superspeedway.

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Sports

June 24, 2020 - 10:20 AM

Bubba Wallace, driver of the #43 Victory Junction Chevrolet, prepares for 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/TNS

NASCAR went to Talladega Superspeedway on heightened alert after Bubba Wallace, its only Black driver, took on an active role in a push for racial equality.

Wallace had successfully called for the ban of the Confederate flag and received threats. Fans paraded past the main entrance of the Alabama track displaying the flag, and a plane circled above the speedway pulling a Confederate flag banner that read “Defund NASCAR.”

So NASCAR moved quickly when one of Wallace’s crew members discovered a rope that resembled a noose in their garage stall. The sanctioning body called in federal authorities, who ruled Tuesday it had been hanging there since at least last October and was not a hate crime.

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