NASCAR’s layered relationship with President Donald Trump took a sharp turn Monday when Trump blasted the series for banning the Confederate flag and wrongly accused the sport’s only full-time Black driver of perpetrating “a hoax” when a crew member found a noose in the team garage stall.
Trump suggested Bubba Wallace should apologize after the sport rallied around him after the noose was found in his assigned stall at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. Federal authorities ruled last month the noose had been hanging since October and was not a hate crime. NASCAR and the FBI have exclusively referred to the rope – which was used to pull the garage door closed – as a noose.
President Donald Trump tweeted Monday morning about Bubba Wallace, asking if the only Black driver racing full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series had apologized for what the President called “another hoax.”
Although not specifically referencing what the FBI described as a noose found in Wallace’s garage at Talladega Superspeedway, Trump references how drivers and NASCAR officials stood behind Wallace during pre-race ceremonies before the June 21 race.
Trump, who gave the command to begin the Daytona 500 in February and his motorcade led the field on to the track, tweeted: “Has @BubbaWallace apologized to all of those great NASCAR drivers & officials who came to his aid, stood by his side, & were willing to sacrifice everything for him, only to find out that the whole thing was just another HOAX? That & Flag decision has caused lowest ratings EVER!”
The FBI determined that no hate crime was committed against Wallace because evidence showed that the garage tie-down rope was fashioned as a noose in October 2019 and no one could have known that Wallace’s team would occupy that stall eight months later. The rope in Wallace’s stall was the only one fashioned as noose.
The noose was discovered by a crew member of Wallace’s team. Because of NASCAR’s COVID-19 protocols, drivers are not allowed in the garage area.
Wallace was informed of the noose by NASCAR President Steve Phelps. NASCAR’s investigation did not determine who fashioned the rope in that manner or why.
Seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson told drivers in a group chat that he planned to stand with Wallace during the national anthem before the Talladega race to show his support for Wallace. Former champion Kevin Harvick suggested that drivers push Wallace’s car from his spot in the starting grid to the front of the field.
Drivers did that and stood with Wallace for the invocation and national anthem. Many hugged him before the race. Richard Petty, who had not attended a race since NASCAR resumed during the COVID-19 pandemic, stood with Wallace. After the drivers pushed Wallace’s car to the front of the grid, Wallace climbed from the car and was overcome by emotion. Petty comforted Wallace by putting his arm around the driver.
After a weekend spent stoking division, President Donald Trump on Monday went after NASCAR’s only Black driver and criticized its decision to ban the Confederate flag at its races and venues.
Exploiting racial tensions, Trump wrongly accused Bubba Wallace of perpetrating “a hoax” after one of his crew members discovered a rope shaped like a noose in a garage stall they had been assigned to. Federal authorities ruled last month that the rope had been hanging there since at least last October and was not a hate crime. Wallace has maintained the rope had been fashioned into a noose
NASCAR ratings have also gone up every week since the series returned to the track at Darlington, including the delayed Talladega race. At this point it looks like the President wants the country to have a conversion about NASCAR that happened 2 weeks ago and not look at what the White House is trying to cover up this week.
The tweet came after Trump used a pair of Independence Day speeches to dig deeper into America’s divisions by accusing protesters who have pushed for racial justice of engaging in a “merciless campaign to wipe out our history.” The remarks served as a direct appeal to the Republican president’s political base, including many disaffected white voters, with less than four months to go before Election Day.
Wallace responded on Twitter with a note to “the next generation and little ones following my foot steps” in which he urged people to use their platform and not be detracted by “hate being thrown at you.”
“Love should come naturally as people are TAUGHT to hate,” Wallace tweeted. “Even when it’s HATE from the POTUS .. Love wins.”
Andrew Murstein, co-owner of the Richard Petty Motorsports team that fields Wallace’s car, called Trump’s tweet “a late, misinformed, and factually incorrect statement.” He also said it was unwarranted and cited the photo NASCAR released of the noose.
“A picture is worth a thousand words,” Murstein said in a statement. “Bubba has reacted in a truthful, professional, level headed manner. The NASCAR community and those in the know all stand by him.”
Wallace, the only Black driver in the top series , led the push for NASCAR to ban Confederate symbols at tracks. Two weeks later, the noose was found at the first race some fans were allowed to attend since the shutdown. On the same day, a plane pulling a banner of the Confederate flag that read “Defund NASCAR” was circling the track and protesters outside the speedway displayed their flags.
Two NASCAR drivers came to Wallace’s defense Monday on social media. Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson, currently sidelined with the coronavirus, posted an image of Wallace’s No. 43 that had been used by drivers in an earlier #IStandWithBubba campaign. Tyler Reddick, a rookie who drives for Richard Childress, tweeted but later deleted a reply to Trump that read: “We don’t need an apology. We did what was right and we will do just fine without your support.”
While Trump claimed NASCAR’s ratings are down, they are actually up. Michael Mulvihill, executive vice president at Fox Sports, tweeted right after Trump that Fox viewership is up 8% since the sport returned from the pandemic hiatus on May 17. NBC took over the broadcast rights this past weekend and said its ratings for the Xfinity Series race on Saturday had increased.
The overnight ratings were up 104 percent “over the comparable race last season,” per Fox Sports executive vice president Michael Mulvihill — a rating of 1.14 compared to 0.56 for the 11th race of the season last year, an event at Dover International Speedway presented on the same channel (FS1).
