NASCAR drivers and crews delivered a strong message of support to the only Black driver among their ranks.
On Sunday night, a noose was found in the garage area of Bubba Wallace's team at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. Wallace is the only Black driver in this NASCAR series and drove a car painted with #BlackLivesMatter at Martinsville Speedway earlier this month.
Wallace never saw the noose, but spoke out against the "despicable act of hatred" in a Sunday night statement, as did a number of his white fellow drivers. And on Monday, ahead of the Geico 500 in Talladega, every driver and crew member paraded behind Wallace to powerfully show they stood with him, with some drivers even pushing Wallace and his car down the track.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In addition to his Black Lives Matter car, Wallace had been a strong advocate for banning Confederate flags at NASCAR races — something the series agreed to a few weeks ago. NASCAR, as well as the U.S. Attorney's office for the Northern District of Alabama, the FBI, and the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division are all investigating how someone got the noose into the secure garage area.
-
September 13 editorial cartoonsCartoons Saturday's political cartoons include court-approved racial profiling and America's moral compass
-
Giorgio Armani obituary: designer revolutionised the business of fashionIn the Spotlight ‘King Giorgio’ came from humble beginnings to become a titan of the fashion industry and redefine 20th century clothing
-
Crossword: September 13, 2025The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
