Bubba Wallace said he is pleased that NASCAR has released an image of the garage rope tied to a rope that was found in his garage at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, but he knows it will not change everyone’s opinion of the incident.
An FBI investigation determined that the rope was present in the garage last October when no one could have known that Wallace’s team would be assigned to it, but not before the entire NASCAR field offered a dramatic demonstration of support for Wallace. Geico 500 start on Monday.
“It was not directed at me or my family, but someone still knows how to tie a tie. And if they did it as a bad joke or not, who knows? But it was good for the public to see. It still won’t change most, or some people’s opinion that I’m a hoax, but it is what it is, “Wallace said during an online news conference on Friday.
Addressing criticism from some quarters that NASCAR’s initial response was overblown, President Steve Phelps said he wished he had been less emotional in announcing the discovery, but that he would have followed the same course of action in investigating it.
“You see what is happening outside of sport and the way we react to it, the way it caught my eye, I thought it was done the right way,” Wallace said. “[Could we have] differently worded? Sure, but you can’t let that slip away and say “ah, it could be a mistake.” I encourage you to do the same thing over and over again. “
BUBBA WALLACE BRIDE REACTS TO FBI INVESTIGATION
The Richard Petty Motorsports driver said he is “exhausted” and frustrated by all the attention he has been receiving this week, but that he is finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.
“But I’m probably a fool to think that, because it’s 2020 and something else will probably happen tomorrow and I’ll go back to where we are.”
Wallace, who played a decisive role in NASCAR’s recent ban on displaying the Confederate flag at its events, said people who want to fly off the track, as several did in Talladega, can do whatever they want.
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“It is your right to a peaceful protest, my man, then, it is part of that. But you won’t see them inside the racetracks where we are having fun with the new fans who bought their tickets. “
“Outside, they are going to make a lot of noise,” Wallace said. “It is exactly what you see on the flip side of everything that happens in the cities as they protest peacefully, but you won’t see the policemen spraying them with pepper and shooting them with rubber bullets, right?”
Wallace said there is no guide to what has been going on, and that he is learning to deal with it as he goes along, but he has a message for people who turn to social media to criticize the people who are in his position.
“People who are sitting on the couch who have never done anything in their lives to get to something and are jealous of their lifestyle are just trying to cast hate, cast hate, and that is unfortunate.” But you just have to think that you are living in your own life and you don’t have time to worry about other people’s lives. So you shouldn’t let them dictate how you live your life. Live life to the fullest. “
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