NASCAR driver Darrell “Bubba” Wallace said Tuesday he wasn’t shocked when he heard a noose was found in his garage stall over the weekend.
“Obviously, I was hurt, I was sad that people would go to those measures,” Wallace said on ABC’s “The View.”
“I wouldn’t say I’m shocked, because we see the stuff that goes on in the world. But it’s just unfortunate that it happened to me and my crew was able to see it and witness that.”
NASCAR announced Sunday that a noose was found in Wallace’s garage stall at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.
The noose was found just weeks after Wallace, the racing circuit’s only African American driver, emblazoned a “Black Lives Matter” message across his car and successfully led a push for the organization to prohibit displays of the Confederate flag.
Wallace was vocal about NASCAR banning the Confederate flag from its events amid nationwide protests over racial inequality and police brutality sparked by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.
NASCAR announced earlier this month it would ban displays of the Confederate flag at all of its events and properties.
Wallace said the noose incident underscored his father’s message to him to be careful following his comments on banning the Confederate flag.
“My dad had told me … after the Confederate flag deal, he said, ‘I’m proud of you, but I’m also worried about your safety, so you have to be careful,’ ” Wallace said. “So this just shows how much I have to watch my back, and he reiterated that on Sunday after I called him.”
Wallace said NASCAR’s president informed him about the noose in person.
“He called and wanted to come over and talk face to face, and he had told me what had happened, and tears was in his eyes … He was so upset,” Wallace said. “I didn’t know what to say or what to do. I have never, obviously, never had that happen, and not being able to see it directly I was just kind of thinking, trying to process it all.”
NASCAR said Sunday it had launched an investigation into the incident.