FBI investigating noose found hanging in NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace’s garage stall at Talladega

LINCOLN, Alabama — NASCAR confirmed late Sunday that a noose was found in the garage stall of Bubba Wallace, the organization’s only full-time Black driver in its Elite Series.

The discovery was made following Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama, and comes two weeks after Wallace lobbied NASCAR successfully to ban the Confederate flag at its tracks and properties.

NASCAR issued a statement via Twitter just before 11 p.m. Sunday, vowing to “identify the person(s) responsible and eliminate them from the sport.”

Read the full statement below.

Meanwhile, Wallace said via Twitter than Sunday’s “despicable act of racism and hatred leaves me incredibly saddened and serves 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.”

“This will not break me. I will not give in nor will I back down. I will continue to proudly stand for what I believe in,” Wallace added.

The FBI is now apparently looking into the case, The Associated Press reported.

NASCAR reached out to the federal authorities, according to the Talladega County sheriff. The FBI field office in Birmingham did not respond to the AP when asked about the investigation.

But the Department of Justice did confirm the review of the incident.

Prior to the start of the rescheduled race on Monday, Wallace’s competitors pushed his car to the front of the line.

He also posted a selfie of the other crews supporting him before the race began.

Cox Media Group