President Trump Tweets At Wallace

President Donald Trump tweeted to NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace on Monday, wondering why he hasn’t apologized for the investigation into a noose found in his garage stall on June 21 at Talladega Superspeedway.

A garage pull-down rope with the end tied like a noose was found in the stall occupied by Wallace, the only full-time Black driver in NASCAR’s national series.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation determined it wasn’t a hate crime, and that the rope was in the newly built garage stall as early as October 2019.

NASCAR President Steve Phelps said the noose was tied during the October 2019 weekend, but NASCAR did not know who did it nor the intent.

When the noose was discovered, NASCAR issued a statement and alerted the FBI.

Phelps, who was the one who informed Wallace about the noose in his garage stall, said June 25 that he took responsibility for the statement that called it a “heinous act” without much consideration that it wasn’t directed toward Wallace.

NASCAR released a statement Monday afternoon:

“We are proud to have Bubba Wallace in the NASCAR family and we commend his courage and leadership. NASCAR continues to stand tall with Bubba, our competitors and everyone who makes our sport welcoming and inclusive for all racing fans.”

Wallace also tweeted a statement:

Wallace has had to fight the calling of the incident a hoax since the results of the FBI investigation. NASCAR didn’t release a photo of the noose until June 25. The FBI has not yet released any evidence it gathered in its investigation.

“Whether it was tied sometime throughout 2019, the fall race there, someone did it with whatever intent they had,” Wallace said. “We weren’t in that garage stall at that time, so we can’t say it was directed toward me, which is good. It wasn’t directed toward me or my family.

“But somebody still knows how to tie a noose and whether 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 some people’s mind of it being a hoax, but it is what it is.”

Phelps stressed June 25 that Wallace had nothing to do with the reporting of the noose. It was found by Richard Petty Motorsports crewman David Cropps, who is Black, and Wallace never saw the noose itself.

“Bubba Wallace and the 43 team had nothing to do with this,” Phelps said June 23. “Bubba Wallace has done nothing but represent this sport with courage, class and dignity.

“It is offensive seeing anyone suggest otherwise, and frankly it's further evidence as to how far we still need to go as a society.”

In an interview on FOX News Channel on Monday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said, "The president is merely pointing out that we've got to let facts come out before we rush to judgments."

NASCAR did get enormous publicity June 22 when the drivers pushed Wallace's car to the front of the grid and many of the crews followed them down pit road.

“Some feel that the phrasing or words used were not right,” Phelps said about that June 22 statement. “That comes with the territory, and I will take full responsibility for that and for the emotion that was attached to it.

“Based on the evidence we had, we thought our drivers — that one of our drivers had been threatened, a driver who had been extremely courageous in recent words and actions. It's our responsibility to react and investigate, and that's exactly what we did.”

Wallace has taken a leadership role in advocacy against racism since the May 25 death of George Floyd while in custody of Minneapolis police officers, who have been charged with murder.

Wallace advocated June 8 that NASCAR ban the Confederate flag, and NASCAR announced a ban June 10. There was a small protest again the ban June 20-21 outside of Talladega Superspeedway.

Wallace, in doing the talk-show circuit in the week following the finding of the noose, was obviously bothered by implications that it was a hoax and even had asked his crew chief at the time about the possibility of them overreacting.

No other garage stall on the NASCAR circuit has a garage pull shaped as a noose, NASCAR said June 25 after it had tracks inspect all garage stalls.

“We’re in a crucial time in the world right now,” Wallace said June 26. “And, we see what’s going on outside of the sport. And the way we reacted to it and the way it was brought to my attention, I thought it was done in the right way.

“[Should the statement be] worded it differently? Sure. You can’t let that slip-up and be just like, ‘Oh, it might be a mistake.’ I encouraged him to do the same thing over and over again. I tried to do my research behind the scenes with my guys to make sure it wasn’t a garage pull. You’ve seen the numbers and how many garage stalls they inspected. Eleven had knots and only one had a noose."

Because no one reported it in October despite someone having seen it, NASCAR will require those in the industry to undergo unconscious bias training. Phelps said he did not know if it was a functioning noose.

“Bubba has done nothing but represent this sport with courage, class and dignity and he stood tall for what he believes in,” Phelps said. “And we all need to stand with him, I know I'm going to.”

The 26-year-old Wallace said June 26 he uses the hate for motivation.

“Every time you stand behind the truth, you’re always good,” Wallace said. “I know people are going to try to knock me and bump me off the throne, the pedestal I’m on, the same pedestal that I’ve been on for 16 or 17 years now since I started.

“So, I’m fine with it. It’s fine. I love to get out and compete and have really good runs. It’s just motivation to go out and to have really good races. We’ll never shut them up. They’re afraid of themselves. They’re afraid of change. Sometimes those are the people that you can’t help throughout all the chaos in the world.

"Those are the ones who need the most help. But you quickly realize they don’t give a damn about you and I don’t give a damn about them.”