A noose was found in Bubba Wallace‘s garage stall at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama on Sunday. NASCAR announced it is launching an investigation.
“Late this afternoon, NASCAR was made aware that a noose was found in the garage stall of the 43 team,” the racing organization said in a statement. “We are angry and outraged and cannot state strongly enough how seriously we take this heinous act. We have launched an immediate investigation and will do everything we can to identify the person(s) responsible and eliminate them from the sport. As we have stated unequivocally, there is no place for racism in NASCAR, and this act only strengthens our resolve to make the sport open and welcoming to all.”
The 26-year-old racer, who is the only Black driver in NASCAR’s top series, later took to Instagram to reflect on how the “despicable act of racism and hatred” left him “incredibly saddened,” noting it served as a “painful reminder of how much further we have to go as a society and how persistent we must be in the fight against racism.”