Bubba Wallace Has a Pre-Race Message for His Fans in Wake of Noose Investigation

Bubba Wallace is no longer focused on the now-closed FBI investigation into a garage door rope [...]

By John Newby

Bubba Wallace is no longer focused on the now-closed FBI investigation into a garage door rope pull that featured a noose handle. He is instead worrying about the back half of the 2020 Cup Series schedule, as well as Sunday's race at Pocono Raceway. Wallace proved this on Sunday with a pre-race message to his fans.

Wallace posted a video message from the comfort of his RV ahead of the Pocono 350. He said that he had watched the Gander Truck Series and Xfinity Series races earlier in the day while preparing for his own turn to chase down a victory. Both previous races set track records for the number of cautions, which created questions about the upcoming Cup Series race and how the drivers would fare. However, Wallace did not express concern about this potential issue. He simply said that he is "pumped."

"Bout to finish it off in the tripleheader here at Pocono," Wallace said. "I'm pumped to get us another shot. From yesterday, we were pretty far off. But [to] still only come out 22nd is not bad. If we were that far off last year, it would have been a really bad day for us." Wallace continued to explain that the members of his pit crew and race team made some adjustments to the No. 43 Chevrolet following Saturday's Pocono 325.

When Wallace gets behind the wheel of his No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet, he will do so while making NASCAR history. Sunday marks the first time that all three major series have raced together, starting with the Gander Truck Series and ending with the Cup Series. This is also the first time in modern NASCAR history that the Cup Series held a doubleheader weekend with two races at the same track on consecutive days.

While Wallace only finished 22nd on Saturday, he has the potential to show marked improvement on Sunday. One reason is that he entered the Pocono 325 without any practice laps due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 325 miles on Saturday served as the de facto practice time. Now Wallace is far more familiar with the track.

Wallace is not the only driver to struggle after hitting the track without any practice time. Kyle Busch, who entered the day as the defending Pocono champion, started fourth overall but ended the day in fifth. This wasn't a major drop for the 2019 Cup Series champion, but it extended Busch's winless streak in 2020.

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