Record of the Press · 2012–Present
Released to the public · 31 OCT 2026File TBL-0040
DEBUNKED

Bubba Wallace 'Noose' Framed as Targeted Hate Act

21 JUN 2020 · Sports Illustrated, national outlets broadly (relaying NASCAR's statement)
Screenshot of the page as published at si.com
EXHIBIT A — Page capture from si.com. Click to open the source.

■ The claim

A noose was left in Black driver Bubba Wallace's Talladega garage stall, and the coverage treated it as a deliberate racist act aimed at him.

■ What actually happened

On June 21, 2020, NASCAR announced a noose had been found in Wallace's stall, called it a heinous act, and federal civil-rights investigators were called in. Coverage widely treated it as a hate act aimed at Wallace. Two days later the FBI and U.S. Attorney said no federal crime had been committed. The rope was a garage-door pull tied in a noose-like loop, and it had been hanging there since October 2019, long before Wallace was assigned that stall.

■ The proof

Joint FBI and U.S. Attorney statement (June 23, 2020): security video showed the pull rope was in place in October 2019, and no federal crime was committed.

■ Original reporting

■ Corrections, findings & records

■ Wayback Machine copies

Stories sometimes get edited after publication. These links open the Internet Archive's earliest snapshot of each original.

■ Grade

DEBUNKED: Shown false by evidence or official findings, whether or not the outlet corrected it. How we grade →