NASCAR drivers stood behind racer Bubba Wallace on Monday, presenting a unified front with the circuit's only Black competitor after his team reported finding a noose in his racetrack garage stall.
Wallace tweeted a picture of the moving image, just ahead of the rain-delayed Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama, with a one-word caption: "Together."
About 24 hours earlier, a member of Wallace's team told race officials about finding a noose in their garage stall.
Wallace finished 14th out of 40 drivers Monday and thanked fans after the race.
“This is probably the most badass moment right here," he said. "It’s just been hectic you know, carrying this weight, this burden. I wouldn’t really say burden, either. I’m proud to stand where I’m at and carry a new face."
Several of the fans who greeted Wallace were wearing Black Lives Matter T-shirts.
"Look at this," Wallace said as he turned to the fans. "Is this the first time you’re here? From Atlanta? That is so cool! The sport is changing."
As he spoke to a Fox interviewer, Wallace apologized for not wearing a mask.
"I wanted to show whoever it was that you’re not going to take away my smile and I’m going to keep on going," he said.
Before the race on Monday, NASCAR President Steve Phelps said anyone responsible for the threat will be “caught and dealt with swiftly and severely.”
"This is a difficult time for our sport but we are going to react swiftly and again we’re going to use all the means, resources at our disposal and of those of the FBI to make sure this person or persons are caught and dealt with swiftly and severely,” Phelps told reporters.
“There’s no room for this at all and we won’t tolerate it.”
Wallace races for Richard Petty Motorsports, and the Hall of Fame racer said he stands in complete support of the driver.
“I’m enraged by the act of someone placing a noose in the garage stall of my race team,” Petty said in statement on Monday. “There is absolutely no place in our sport or our society for racism. This filthy act serves as a reminder of how far we still have to go to eradicate racial prejudice and it galvanizes my resolve to use the resources of Richard Petty Motorsports to create change."
Petty added: “I stand shoulder to shoulder with Bubba yesterday, today, tomorrow, and every day forwards.”
But Wallace’s mother, Desiree Wallace, told a radio host on Monday that her son had faced racism before on the track.
“This is not his first incident,” she said on SiriusXM’s “The Joe Madison Show.” “If he gets into it with another driver they’re quick to bring out the n-word.”
NASCAR, a bedrock of Southern culture, banned the Confederate flag this month from all of its events.
The unexpected move happened in the wake of George Floyd's death, which has sparked worldwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism.
Not all NASCAR fans have embraced the move — and some might even be lashing out at the sport.
Steve Page, president of the Sonoma Raceway north of San Francisco, revealed on Monday that a noose was left on track grounds.
“On Saturday, a Sonoma Raceway staff member discovered a piece of twine tied in what appeared to be a noose hanging from a tree on raceway property," according to a statement by Page.
"Our staff, on-site business tenants and local law enforcement have been contacted and asked to share any information they may have. The incident is under investigation by the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department. Sonoma Raceway takes this incident very seriously and is dedicated to operating a facility that is welcoming to everyone.”
CORRECTION (June 25, 2020, 2:45 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated who reported finding the noose. A member of Bubba Wallace's crew did, not Wallace himself.
