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Being the only black full-time driver on the current NASCAR grid, Bubba Wallace Jr. knows very well what it feels like to be singled out for your ethnicity. In June 2020, the driver found himself the victim of a supposed hate crime when a rope fashioned into the shape of a noose was found hanging from his stall at Talladega Speedway, in Alabama.
The incident was revisited in the upcoming Netflix docuseries RACE: Bubba Wallace. The six-episode series arrives on the streaming platform on February 22 and explores various facets of Wallace Jr.’s life after the 2020 incident.
In response to the act, the car #23 driver posted a statement on Twitter, saying that the “despicable act of racism and hatred leaves me incredibly saddened.” He wrote:
An immediate investigation by the FBI into the incident took place. The bureau, however, determined that the noose was not an act of hate crime. Instead, it was actually a door pull rope shaped that way, that had been in place since October of the previous year.
Just days before the incident, Bubba Wallace Jr. had successfully exacted a permanent ban from the motorsport company on displays of the Confederate flag at any of its events. His initiative came at the height of protests against racial injustice that rocked the US that year.
Following NASCAR’s orders, a large group of protesters assembled outside the Talladega Speedway to protest the ban. The 28-year-old had earlier faced backlash from the sport’s fans for his actions, with people claiming that the flag was a crucial part of their southern heritage. Their words found further amplification in calling the flag an integral part of NASCAR, a sport with deep roots in the south.
“Do you have a gun?” – Bubba Wallace Jr.’s father warned the driver
While the investigation was underway, Bubba Wallace Jr. called his family to assure them of his safety. His father, Bubba Wallace Sr., however, asked the driver if he had a gun to protect himself. When he responded in the negative, his father warned him to get one.
Fortunately, no harm befell the driver to take such a step. Meanwhile, the next day, all 39 other NASCAR drivers pushed Wallace Jr.'s #43 car to the front of the grid in a show of solidarity. Pit members were also not left behind, as many took to the tarmac in a procession behind them.
