Bubba Wallace, the only Black driver in NASCAR's top racing series, was apparently targeted during a race as someone took over his radio saying "You're not wanted in NASCAR."
According to RollingStone, the incident unfolded on Sunday (May 21) at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina. An individual apparently hijacked the radio channel that Wallace uses to communicate with his team, saying “Go back to where you came from a**hole. You’re not wanted in NASCAR.”
NASCAR has reportedly launched an investigation into the incident. According to a source on Wallace's racing team, the driver didn't hear or acknowledge the comments during the race.
Following the event, Wallace did share a video addressing his second-place finish in the All Star race.
“All in all, proud of the effort,” Wallace said. “It just wasn’t meant to be. Five [winning driver Kyle Larson] was lights out, and we were the best of the rest, so I guess we can be proud about that.”
Wallace has been known to use his platform to speak out about social justice issues. In 2020, Wallace wore an "I Can't Breathe" shirt and put a Black Lives Matter sticker on his car in the wake of George Floyd's murder. He also helped lead a campaign to ban the Confederate flag from NASCAR events.
“I still don’t see it as being political,” Wallace told RollingStone in 2020. “I just see it as basically right versus wrong.”
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