Bubba Wallace steered the #43 Victory Junction Chevrolet to the front of pit road, NASCAR champion Kyle Busch pushing the race car on one side and close friend, Ryan Blaney, pushing on the other.
The entire 40-driver field and all of their crew members followed.
After the car came to a stop, Wallace climbed out, sat on the window ledge and sobbed.
Photo: AFP
Richard Petty, his Hall of Fame team owner, gently placed a hand on Wallace’s shoulder.
As US federal authorities on Monday descended on Talladega Superspeedway to investigate the discovery of a noose in Wallace’s garage stall, the entire industry rallied around the Cup Series’ only black driver.
“The news has disturbed us all, and of course we want justice and to know who and why,” seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson said. “And we want to stand with our friend.”
The 82-year-old Petty — at his first race since the COVID-19 pandemic began and at Talladega on race day for the first time in more than 10 years — stood next to Wallace during a rendition of the US national anthem, before rain postponed Monday’s event.
Everyone stood behind Wallace’s car, while Brad Keselowski held the US national flag at the front of the display of solidarity.
The idea to stand with Wallace started with Johnson, while former series champion Kevin Harvick suggested that they all push the car to the front of the grid, Wallace said.
One by one, after the anthem, they hugged Wallace. He then had a long embrace with Petty.
Then he went racing.
It was Wallace who successfully pushed the stock car series to ban the Confederate flag at its venues less than two weeks ago and he was the target when the noose was found hanging in the Richard Petty Motorsports garage stall on Sunday afternoon at the Alabama track.
A member of Wallace’s crew reported it to NASCAR and by Monday morning, US Attorney Jay Town said that his office, the FBI and the US Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division were involved.
“Regardless of whether federal charges can be brought, this type of action has no place in our society,” Town said.
NASCAR president Steve Phelps said that security has been stepped up for Wallace — his team was also granted unusual access to its car on Monday morning to ensure that it had not been tampered with overnight — and the FBI was “currently on site” at the track.
The FBI director had told agents in Birmingham to “use all their resources” to find the perpetrator, Phelps said.
“Unequivocally, they will be banned from this sport for life,” Phelps said. “There is no room for this at all. We won’t tolerate it. They won’t be here. I don’t care who they are, they will not be here.”
The stock car series has tried to distance itself from the confederate flag for years at the risk of alienating a core group of its fan base.
Petty said in a statement that he was “enraged” by the “filthy act” of racism.
Retired champion Jeff Gordon called it a “cowardly” act, while retired champion and current team owner Tony Stewart seethed in a social media post: “Angry. Outraged. Disappointed. Those words don’t fully describe how I feel. #IStandWithBubba and I’ll damn sure stand up to anyone who engages in this kind of behavior.”
Phelps said that he was the one who told Wallace about the noose.
“It was a difficult moment for Bubba, a difficult moment for me,” he said. “He’s handled it with the grace that he has handled everything that’s happened over the last few weeks.”
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