Declaring “the rope was real,” Nascar officials released a photo of the rope found at the black driver’s garage stall Bubba Wallace on Thursday that sparked a federal investigation that determined it had been there since last October.
The incident has put racism at the front and center of the stock car series that banned the Confederate flag from its venues and races two weeks ago at Wallace’s behest. It also sparked criticism from some fans that Nascar had reacted in some way – criticism that Nascar has criticized and cited when posting the photo of Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. The image was taken by Nascar security.
“As you can see from the photo, the knot was real, as was our concern for Bubba,” said Nascar President Steve Phelps. “Based on the evidence we had, we thought that our drivers: one of our drivers had been threatened, a driver who had been extremely brave in recent words and actions. It is our responsibility to react and investigate, and that is exactly what we did. “
Nascar asked officials at each track to check their garages this week. Nascar said that of 1,684 garage positions on 29 tracks, only 11 had a pull-out rope on the garage door tied with a knot. The only one to get hold of a rope was discovered on Sunday by a crew member at Wallace’s 43rd garage position.
Nascar moved quickly, and by Monday, FBI agents were on the track. Authorities on Tuesday said the rope had been hanging there since last fall and was therefore not a hate crime against Wallace, 26.
United States Attorney Jay Town and FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp Jr said “no one would have known that Mr. Wallace would be assigned” to that same position.
Wallace never saw the rope. He said Phelps came to see him on Sunday night on the track with “tears running down his face.” He also told CNN: “It was a rope. Whether it was tied in 2019 … it’s a rope. “
Phelps said Nascar had determined that the rope was not in place when the October 2019 race weekend began, but that it was created sometime during that weekend, ”he said. “Given the time and garage access policies and procedures at the time, unfortunately we were unable to determine with certainty who tied this rope this way or why it was done.”
The Nascar investigation has ended, Phelps said, and cameras will be added to the garages in the future.
