TALLADEGA, Ala. — NASCAR President Steve Phelps addressed members of the media during a teleconference Monday afternoon to discuss details regarding the discovery of a noose in the Talladega Superspeedway garage stall of the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 driven by Bubba Wallace.
Phelps confirmed the noose was found late Sunday afternoon by a member of the Richard Petty Motorsports team, who informed NASCAR officials of the discovery. At that point NASCAR security got involved and the FBI was informed of the situation on Monday morning.
He didn’t reveal any specific details on how the noose was positioned inside the garage stall.
“I got a small group of senior leaders at NASCAR together to try to determine what (the) next steps would be,” Phelps said as he discussed the timeline of events. “The first thing was to launch an immediate investigation into this heinous act. As part of that, this morning at 7:30 we notified the Birmingham office of the FBI and they’re currently on site and they’ve started their investigation.
“We are, as I said, in the early stages of this and we will continue to keep he media informed as we learn more,” Phelps continued. “Obviously this is a very, very serious act and we take it as such. We will do everything in our power to make sure that whoever has committed this act comes to justice and comes to light.”
Phelps said he personally informed Wallace of the discovery of the noose Sunday evening.
“I’m the one that informed Bubba that this act had happened,” Phelps said. “It was a difficult moment for Bubba and it was a difficult moment for me. He’s handled it with the grace that he has handled everything that’s happened over the last few weeks.”
He also confirmed that NASCAR allowed the Richard Petty Motorsports team to inspect the No. 43 entry Monday morning to ensure the car hadn’t been tampered with prior to Monday’s rescheduled GEICO 500.
“With respect to the car, that’s something we did allow the team to look at it and make sure the car was in good shape,” Phelps said. “I won’t get into specifics about what that is, but yes, the team was allowed to do that.”
While the culprit or culprits remain unknown, Phelps confirmed those to blame for this incident would be banned from NASCAR for life if found.
“NASCAR will ban them from the sport for life unequivocally,” Phelps said. “They will be banned from this sport for life. There is no room for this at all, and we won’t tolerate it and they won’t be here. I don’t care who they are. They will not be here.”
Phelps declined to discuss specific details surrounding the investigation, including the number of cameras in the garage area or what might have been caught on camera at the time the noose was discovered.
“We’re not going to get into the specifics about the number of cameras and what is on the cameras,” Phelps said. “We will collect all that information. It will be obviously part of what the FBI is looking at. As details become available that we can share, we will share.”
As far as who would have been able to gain access to that area of Talladega Superspeedway, Phelps confirmed only a limited number of people would have had access due to the reduced footprint and social distancing policies in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have a very small number of people that are in the footprint, only essential personnel, who is there. Obviously, we’ll review the entire list with the FBI about who had access at that particular time,” Phelps said. “We also use something called compartmentalization. We will look at who is in that particular area and we’ll be able to narrow that down.”
Phelps didn’t dismiss the idea that someone unauthorized may have gained access to the area, though, he declined to speculate further.
“I can’t say, you know, for certain, but the security around getting into the footprint is significant,” Phelps said. “Security is very tight getting in and out of the footprint. I can’t speculate whether there would be a breach or not.”
Phelps said NASCAR will do everything possible to find those individuals responsible and confirmed that FBI Director Christopher Wray has told the Birmingham, Ala., office of the FBI to use all of its resources to help find those responsible.
“We’re going to use every effort we can do to determine who has done this, whether it’s a single person or multiple people,” Phelps said. “The director of the FBI has informed the Birmingham office to use all their resources to find out as well. So all the resources available to NASCAR, the FBI, the teams of all the drivers and anyone who would have any access to this have all said, ‘Hey, we want to make sure that we figure out who has done this vile act.’”
Phelps also addressed those on social media who have speculated that the discovery of the noose was staged, saying that such an accusation “personally offends” him.
“I can’t speak for those on social media who would say that this is a staged event,” Phelps said. “I would say that is something that personally offends me. This is a terrible, terrible act that has happened. For those that would think this is staged, I don’t even know where to go with that, frankly.”
Phelps closed by confirming that NASCAR has increased security at Talladega Superspeedway, not only to protect Wallace, but the rest of the NASCAR community.
“We want to make sure Bubba is safe and we have stepped up security,” Phelps said. “This is a family that needs to take care of one of its family members who’s been attacked. We will firmly support (Bubba) as an industry, as a family and a community to make sure Bubba and everyone else in this sport is safe.”