NASCAR released a statement on Sunday evening saying it was investigating a noose found in Bubba Wallace's garage stall at the Talladega Speedway in Lincoln, Alabama.
NASCAR said it would "do everything we can to identify the person(s) responsible and eliminate them from the sport."
Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports shared the statement:
Wallace, who was the first Black driver since Wendell Scott in 1963 to win a NASCAR event when he won on the truck series at Martinsville in 2013, also released a statement on his Twitter account:
The driver wrote in part: "As my mother told me today, 'They are just trying to scare you.' This will not break me, I will not give in nor will I back down. I will continue to proudly stand for what I believe in."
ESPN's Marty Smith reported on SportsCenter that Wallace himself didn't see the noose and that somebody on his team found it in the garage stall.
The act of hatred and racism comes in the wake of NASCAR banning the Confederate flag from its events and racetracks earlier in June. Wallace had publicly advocated for the removal of the flag.
"No one should feel uncomfortable when they come to a NASCAR race. It starts with Confederate flags," he said on June 9, per Amir Vera and Steve Almasy of CNN. "Get them out of here. They have no place for them."
That decision has been met with some backlash among certain NASCAR fans, which included displays of the Confederate flag outside of Sunday's weather-postponed Geico 500:
Some NASCAR fans are not happy about the sport banning Confederate flags at their races.
A plane trailing a large Confederate flag with the words "defund NASCAR" flew over Alabama's Talladega Superspeedway before Sunday's Geico 500 race got started.
Outside, a parade of cars drove by while flying the flag on the back of their cars.
NASCAR Driver Ed Sugg flew Confederate and Donald Trump 2020 flags at his merchandise booth outside the racetrack.
Unfavorable weather conditions delayed the race until Monday. In an effort to social distance, only five-thousand spectators were in attendance.
with files from Associated Press & San Diego Union Tribune