It's Been Over Three Years & Many Fans Still Hate a Man Based On False Information

It's sad, no, pathetic, that a certain (decent-sized) portion of our fanbase hates a man 3 1/2 years after a situation. The worst part is, 3 years later this sizable portion of the fanbase remains willfully ignorant as the entire investigation by the FBI as well as NASCAR has been public information as soon as the investigation ended Monday, just 2 days after the incident. It's also pathetic that I have to write this 3 1/2 years later to essentially re-educate some of you folks. 

"The Dega Family" 2020 Spring Talladega Credit: Chris Graythen | Getty Images via Media.NASCAR

By: Tom Luttermoser   9-21-2023

Pure, Unadulterated Ignorance

I've been running NASCAR Groups on Facebook since before the incident in question and our Page since the beginning of 2021. With that being said, I've seen tens of thousands of posts and comments on Facebook alone in the following days and now years, from people who just have no clue.

In fact, just this morning (the reason I'm writing this) I had a gentleman a bit on the older side comment on a "Round of 12" Post on Facebook explaining to me that, "Bubba Wallace knew that it was a pull rope, yet he still went and told NASCAR. He did that because he knew that with all the race riots going on, he would get all of the media attention and new sponsors to help his career. He knew he was gona be fired from Pettys and sponsors would help with pay for all the reked race cars." 

Meanwhile, this comment had nothing to do with the post made several days prior, but you can see what Page admins like myself and many others have to deal with daily. It's sad thinking like this, and to a dozen + comments like this, we get a day that shows that some people just have 0 clue as to what happened. 

With the ease of getting free information, it tells me one thing. People are making a choice to remain ignorant instead of learning that their thoughts for the last 3 years have been wrong. I mean hell, some fan's entire personalities are based on hatred for Bubba Wallace. Could you imagine some of these people having to change their entire personalities? 

The Talladega Noose Incident 

June 21, 2020. It's been over 3 years since NASCAR went public with news that a noose was found hanging in the garage stall of the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet of 3rd-year driver Bubba Wallace. Now keep in mind, this was a time during COVID protocols limiting the number of people, route, and the amount of time they could be in the garage area at each track. NASCAR reported the findings of an RPM (Richard Petty Motorsports) team member that in the garage stall, that individual had found what appeared to be a noose hanging in the stall.

Within a short matter of time, NASCAR President Steve Phelps relayed that information to Bubba Wallace later that day which was the first time he had become aware of the situation. The sanctioning body consulted law enforcement, contacting the FBI to request investigation of a potential hate crime, who promptly showed up and conducted said investigation. 

Cause for Concern 

Why was it a cause for concern for NASCAR? Well, with the little information available, and, well, look below. It's pretty blatantly obviously tied like a noose. That means, guess what guys.. The Noose was real.

At the time of the finding, Americans across the country were rioting following Police killings of several Black Americans, the biggest of which was George Floyd. Also at the time, Bubba Wallace along with several others within NASCAR was working to get the "Confederate Flag" banned from NASCAR events. Many fans, especially Southern fans HATED this idea as it took their "Heritage' or "History" from them for a short time a few weekends a year for those who actually attended. 

Uncropped photo of the Garage door pull rope at Talladega Image: NASCAR.

NASCAR and The FBI Findings

The FBI promptly arrived on the scene with 15 agents to ensure a quick, yet very thorough investigation. NASCAR did the same. NASCAR sent officials to each one of the 29 Tracks on the NASCAR circuit and checked each one of the 1,684 garage stalls pull ropes. 

In the end, NASCAR found of the 1,684 stalls, only 11 had a knot of any sort tied with only a single 1 tied in the fashion of a noose. That being the stall of the No. 43 RPM Chevrolet at Talladega Superspeedway. 

The FBI's investigation ended the following Monday, the 23rd of June stating in layman's terms... The Rope was tied in the fashion of a noose, that much was obvious. The rope had been tied that way prior to the race weekend and photos from the previous race at the track in October 2019 showed (however out of focus) a loop of some sort tied on the same door pull. Those photos coming from the 21 team of Wood Brothers Racing. There appeared to be no malice or foul play involved, meaning, this was nothing more than a coincidence in a scary time for many. 

Phelps made a statement following the investigations, "In hindsight, we should have -- I should have -- used the word 'alleged' in our statement... As you can see from the photo, the noose was real, as was our concern for Bubba."