Just after Wallace took the checkered flag and finished as runner-up to dominant winner Kyle Larson in North Wilkesboro’s non-championship All-Star event on Sunday evening, an unidentified individual keyed into his team radio channel with a derogatory message.
“Go back to where you came from you a******. You’re not wanted in NASCAR,” the person said.
A spokesperson for 23XI Racing told Autosport that Wallace, the only full-time black driver in NASCAR’s premier series, did not hear the comments or acknowledge them at the time.
NASCAR officials confirmed their security operation is investigating the incident in an attempt to determine who accessed his radio channel and how.
In 2020, Wallace was at the centre of a racism storm when a noose was discovered in his garage at Talladega. However, a subsequent FBI investigation found that the pull down rope on his garage stall door, fashioned in a way that resembles a noose, had been in place since 2019 and that no hate crime had been committed.
Wallace and 23XI team-mate Tyler Reddick both finished in the top three as the newly renovated North Wilkesboro staged its first Cup event since 1996, but he felt the result was bittersweet.
Wallace admitted that he would likely have been much more upbeat with his result had it been in a normal points-paying event instead of a one-off showpiece.
Following pitstops just after the a mandated competition caution, Wallace came off pitroad behind Larson but no caution in the second half of the race meant he never had an opportunity to close the gap on the Hendrick Motorsports driver.
“He could attack hard and have something there in the end,” Wallace said of Larson.
Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing, Columbia Sportswear Company Toyota Camry
Photo by: Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images
“If this was a normal race, something to be excited about – but this was for a $1 million, and you come up short and walk away with nothing.
“Tail tucked between our legs, but all-in-all, just continue to ride the momentum train.
“We came up one spot short. Congrats to Larson. He’s been on a rail lately.
“We have to keep the momentum rolling there and get ourselves deeper into the playoffs. I’m excited to be where we are at right now.”