NASCAR Releases Picture of "Pull Rope Fashioned Like a Noose" in Bubba Wallace's Garage

This is all over social right now:

NASCAR releases photo to the media of the garage pull rope formed as a noose from the Bubba Wallace garage Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway.
This image was provide by NASCAR. pic.twitter.com/Z4ZyBzpREF

— Marty Smith (@MartySmithESPN) June 25, 2020

That’s a hangman’s knot. There are knots that are easier to tie that would function better as a garage door pull, so it doesn’t make much sense for this to exist. You could do a bowline to create a fixed loop and provide a good grip.

To recap, the FBI came out earlier in the week and said that “the noose found in garage number four” had been there for some time, possibly dating back to October of 2019. They ruled out the possibility of a hate crime being committed.

In a follow-up statement, NASCAR called it a “garage door pull rope fashioned like a noose” and confirmed the FBI findings that it had been in the garage prior to this past weekend. Both organizations used the term “noose” in their original releases.

President Steve Phelps, in a follow up today, says NASCAR has since checked all 20 tracks and more than 1,600 garage stalls and found 11 ropes with a knot. Only once was fashioned in a noose, like the picture above.

More Phelps:

NASCAR president Steve Phelps says its own investigation has been completed. “In hindsight, I should have used the word alleged.” But says the noose was real and the concern for Bubba Wallace was real. That was the only rope in the garage tied this way.

— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) June 25, 2020

I’m not sure why they couldn’t have just released this picture along with the original statement, but whatever. When you see this, you could understand why somebody would notify NASCAR and think there was some sort of sinister behavior at play. Phelps say it was not a hoax, and both NASCAR and the FBI ruled out the possibility of a hate crime, so it would seem like it’s case closed, but who the hell really knows?