With the FBI completing its investigation into the “noose incident” at Talladega Superspeedway, social media users are alleging that driver Bubba Wallace helped perpetrate a hoax. However, a licensed NASCAR photographer named Daylon Barr does not see the situation this way. He provided an analogy to put the situation in a different perspective.
“riddle me this. if a backpack is abandoned in an airport, it’s reported and the airport gets evacuated. it gets investigated as a suspicious package, and NOBODY questions the possibility it’s a bomb. how is that any different than NASCAR’s situation currently. #IStandWithBubba,” Barr wrote on Twitter. “and when they find out the backpack wasn’t a bomb, they don’t blame the airport for planting a backpack for attention. it’s not a conspiracy. it’s a misunderstanding. an unfortunate coincidence.”
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Barr expressed the opinion that the situations were very similar. NASCAR President Steve Phelps also said something similar during his Tuesday night teleconference. He explained to reporters that they would investigate again under similar circumstances. The evidence made it clear that NASCAR “needed to look into this.”
Several Twitter users saw Barr’s analogy and agreed that the situations are similar. They expressed satisfaction with how NASCAR handled the investigation and actually placed the blame on the 24/7 news cycle. Others, however, said that the situations are different for one key reason. They said that airports aren’t dealing with unhappy fans.
“Because people don’t want NASCAR to be inclusive, so they will try to split it apart. Based on what I saw on Monday, I don’t think it will work,” one fan wrote in response. Others responded by simply saying that NASCAR’s haters “are gonna hate” no matter what happens.
Many people supported Barr’s analogy, but there were some that expressed opposing opinions on social media. Specifically, these individuals said that racing’s governing body was trying to “be woke” and support Black Lives Matter. Others simply said that Wallace had “doubled down” and went along with the narrative.
“The FBI has completed its investigation at Talladega Superspeedway and determined that Bubba Wallace was not the target of a hate crime,” NASCAR said in a statement on Tuesday evening. “The FBI report concludes, and photographic evidence confirms, that the garage door pull rope fashioned like a noose had been positioned there since as early as last fall. This was obviously before the 43 team’s arrival and garage assignment. We appreciate the FBI’s quick and thorough investigation and are thankful to learn that this was not an intentional, racist act against Bubba. We remain steadfast in our commitment to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all who love racing.”
