Justice Department Investigating Noose Found in Bubba Wallace’s Track Garage

“People were spitting all around my feet,” he said. “I was in the pits just to meet some of the drivers — only one or two would even say anything to me.”

But in recent years, NASCAR, which has seen attendance and television ratings decline, has sometimes sought to step away from its history. In 2015, after a white supremacist killed nine black churchgoers in Charleston, S.C., officials at top tracks urged people not to fly the Confederate flag at competitions, and some of the sport’s top drivers, like Dale Earnhardt Jr., spoke out about racism and their opposition to the battle flag.

It was only this month, though, after Bubba Wallace spoke out in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis, that NASCAR announced a ban of the battle flag. The decision enraged some fans, as well as some drivers, and on Sunday, hundreds of cars adorned in battle flags assembled near Talladega before forming a two-mile caravan and driving past the track entrance in protest.

By Monday, many people in Alabama were expressing disdain and embarrassment over what had happened inside Talladega’s gates.

Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican who in 2018 campaigned on her record of having protected Confederate monuments, said Monday that she was “shocked and appalled” by the episode, which she described as a “disgusting display of hatred.”

“Bubba Wallace is one of us,” the governor said in a statement. “He is a native of Mobile and on behalf of all Alabamians, I apologize to Bubba Wallace as well as to his family and friends for the hurt this has caused and regret the mark this leaves on our state.”

Matthew Teague reported from Talladega, and Alan Blinder from Atlanta.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/22/sports/autoracing/bubba-wallace-noose-nascar.html