Bubba Wallace noose photo was real, NASCAR releases image of noose found in garage

"The Bubba Wallace noose photo was real," said NASCAR President Steve Phelps on Thursday as the stock racing company released the findings of the investigation into the No. 43 garage stall. The NASCAR noose photo confirms that the garage door pull-rope was indeed tied into a noose in Bubba Wallace's garage stall at Talladega Superspeedway. 

Also Read | Noose In Bubba Wallace Garage NOT A Hoax Despite Online Speculation Suggesting Otherwise

Bubba Wallace noose photo released by NASCAR

The noose, which was discovered late last Saturday was initially feared to be a racist attack against Bubba Wallace, who has been at the forefront of NASCAR's attempts to combat racism. However, the FBI's investigation into the incident revealed the garage door pull-rope had been at the No. 4 stall at the Talladega Superspeedway since October 2019. Bubba Wallace happening to be at the same garage was just a coincidence, said the FBI. The federal investigation concluded that the 26-year-old racer was not a victim of a hate crime and no charges were filed.

Since the FBI released its findings, NASCAR, as well as Bubba Wallace, have faced social media backlash from fans accusing the racing company of overreaction. 'Bubba Wallace hoax' was one of the common sentiments fired at NASCAR's only full-time African-American racer.

Also Read | Bubba Wallace Hoax: Racer Responds To 'Noose Hoax' Theory, Says "I'm Offended But Not Shocked"

However, NASCAR releasing the Bubba Wallace noose photo confirms that the fear of a racist attack was real for the company as well as the racer. "As you can see from the photo, the noose was real, as was our concern for Bubba," Steve Phelps said in an official statement released by NASCAR. "With similar emotion, others across our industry and our media stood up to defend the NASCAR family. Our NASCAR family. Because they are part of the NASCAR family, too. We are proud to see so many stand up for what’s right.”

After the discovery of the noose in Bubba Wallace garage, NASCAR noted that it asked officials to check each track and their respective garages for similar findings. The statement mentions that across 1,684 garage stalls at 29 tracks at Talladega Superspeedway, only 11 stalls had a pull-down rope tied, out of which only one was fashioned into a noose - the one which was found in the No. 43 garage stall. 

Also Read | NASCAR Hopes New Fans Join The Sport In Push For Equality

FOX Sports' Bob Pockrass initially shared the Bubba Wallace noose photo on social media, a picture that was taken in 2019. Pockrass noted the stall at that time was occupied by No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing team. 

Along with the NASCAR noose photo, Steve Phelps noted that his "ultimate conclusion" from the recent events is to ensure that something like this never happens again. Phelps said NASCAR will make sure that every competitor feels safe during the events. "I would also like to reinforce that what we did see at Talladega in pre-race on Monday, our drivers, crews and officials proudly demonstrated that we are united in the belief that there is no place for racism in our sport," Phelps said, referring to NASCAR's unified front in support of Bubba Wallace before the race on Monday. 

Also Read | Bubba Wallace Noose Photo Confirm It Was Real; Racer Warns Of Photoshopped Images

(Image Credits: NASCAR Official Website, Bubba Wallace Instagram Handle)