The NASCAR hate crime that wasn't

By Kaylee McGhee, Commentary Writer | June 23, 2020

The FBI concluded on Tuesday that Bubba Wallace, NASCAR’s only African American driver, was not the target of a hate crime and that the “noose” found in his team’s garage was actually a standard pull rope that had been there since last year.

"The FBI report concludes, and photographic evidence confirms, that the garage door pull rope fashioned like a noose had been positioned there since as early as last fall. This was obviously well before the 43 team’s arrival and garage assignment,” NASCAR said in a statement.

Our immediate reaction should be one of relief. It is indisputably a good thing that someone within NASCAR did not exhibit racist behavior in an attempt to intimidate Wallace or his team. And it was encouraging to see so many NASCAR drivers and crew members rally behind Wallace and push his No. 43 Chevrolet to the front of the grid Monday afternoon.

But we need to take a long and hard look at why this controversy became a thing in the first place. The “noose” was nothing more than a pull rope. A standard, easily identifiable pull rope that had been in Wallace’s garage for nearly a year. Did no one on Wallace’s team notice this rope before? Or did the team member who reported the incident to NASCAR do so intentionally?.......... To Read More....