"I feel like there's a ton of support," Wallace told CNN. Wallace exited the car and appeared to be in tears as driver after driver hugged him. Multiple drivers and crew then joined forces to push Wallace's No.43 car to the front of the grid. He was visibly moved before the start as his fellow drivers rallied behind him at the starting line. However, the weather-delayed race on Monday turned into a mass show of support as drivers closed ranks around Wallace. The Confederate flag, seen as a symbol of slavery and racism by many, has been a staple at NASCAR tracks, particularly in the sport's southern US heartland.īefore the scheduled Sunday start of the race at Talladega, the flag was flaunted by some outside the speedway. Security had been stepped up for Wallace, the only black driver who races full time in NASCAR's top Cup series and who recently successfully campaigned for the banning of the Confederate flag at the popular stock car series events. "It wasn't directed at me, but somebody tied a noose." "The image I've seen of what was hanging in my garage was not a garage (door) pull," he said. Wallace told CNN on Tuesday night that whether it was targeting him or not, the rope was definitely twisted into a hanging noose in the photo he saw - an image that recalls lynchings of black Americans. "We immediately alerted NASCAR and have assisted in the investigation in every way possible," the team said. Wood Brothers Racing, who had a car in that garage for a race last autumn, cooperated in the investigation, saying in a statement on Twitter that one of their employees had seen the rope there. The FBI investigation, which included 15 agents sifting through evidence and conducting interviews, was launched on Monday, a day after the noose was found. "Although the noose is now known to have been in garage number 4 in 2019, nobody could have known Mr Wallace would be assigned to garage number 4 last week." "The investigation also revealed evidence, including authentic video confirmed by NASCAR, that the noose found in garage number 4 was in that garage as early as October 2019.
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