The Internet is comparing NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace to disgraced actor Jussie Smollett.
Smollett, 38, is best known for allegedly orchestrating a hate crime hoax against himself in Chicago in 2019.
The FBI is investigating a racist incident in Wallace’s team garage at Talladega. A noose was found hanging in the stall at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama on Sunday.
The noose was observed by a Wallace team member who works on his cars. Wallace reportedly did not see the noose.
A plethora of surveillance cameras monitor the NASCAR garage where millions of dollars worth of race cars and expensive tools are kept.
NASCAR drivers are not allowed to enter the garage before races. They must go directly from their trailers to their cars before the start of the race.
But that didn’t stop rumormongers on the internet from accusing the 26-year-old Alabama native of making up the noose story.
Wallace is the only full-time Black or biracial driver in NASCAR’s elite Cup Series. He drives for team owner and NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty.
Petty supported Wallace at the track on Monday. Petty, 82, hasn’t been seen at a NASCAR race since before the coronavirus pandemic.
Drivers joined together to push Wallace’s #43 Victory Junction Chevrolet along pit road to the front of the the Geico 500 field before the start of the race on Monday.
NASCAR also painted “#IStandwith Bubba” on the infield at the Talladega Superspeedway.
If they truly found a noose, that’s horrible. But if this is one big ass publicity stunt…. no video, no photo’s, and @NASCAR is hiding all comments that suggest it’s fake. https://t.co/GGmKYapLgz
— Sam (@sam_drofyah) June 22, 2020
