Alright folks, pull up a seat at the table and lets have a chat. Unfortunately, this chat could be very uncomfortable for some. Sorry, but it’s past due. It’s time we discuss what happened this past weekend at the Talladega Superspeedway and where we stand right now.

I’m seeing so much bullshit, sorry for my language, going around right now.  There’s so much speculation and blame going in quite frankly directions that it doesn’t need to go to and it’s time to set the record straight.

If you want to really know what’s going on from that “alleged” incident in the NASCAR garage this past weekend, and I use those quotations for a reason, you’ll find out later, then welcome to the table and be sure your mind and ears are open and mouth closed. This is going to be a roller coaster ride that takes us from Alabama to North Carolina to all across this nation of ours back to where I’m sitting today typing this in Indiana. We will work only in facts and facts only. If you can’t handle facts and want to live in the era of “fake news” then you’re free to get up from the table and excuse yourself. If you can handle the truth, then welcome!

So, if you’re ready, lets begin.

First off, the blame towards Bubba Wallace and Richard Petty Motorsports is incomprehensible. How on earth is anyone placing blame with them now.

NASCAR has said twice that Wallace and RPM are not to blame in this matter. So has the FBI.

“Although the noose is now known to have been in garage number 4 in 2019, nobody could have known Mr. Wallace would be assigned to garage number 4 last week,” an FBI report stated on Tuesday.”

Steve Phelps, the President of NASCAR, also said on Tuesday that they don’t place any blame in RPM’s direction in wake of this.

“I want to be clear about the 43 team – the 43 team had nothing to do with this,” said Phelps. “The evidence is very clear that the noose that was in that garage had been in the garage previously. The last race we’d had there in October, that noose was present; and the fact that it was not found until a member of the 43 team came there is something that is a fact.”

On Thursday, Phelps reiterated it again.

“Bubba Wallace and the 43 team had nothing to do with this. Bubba Wallace has done nothing but represent this sport with courage, class and dignity. It’s offensive if anyone says otherwise.”

So, if you sit here today, on June 25 or after depending on when you are reading this, and still place blame in the direction of Wallace and/or RPM, I feel sorry for you. You are part of the problem.

“I do think anyone who suggested that this was a hoax or manufactured or the events around this, I just find personally offensive,” Phelps continued. “I don’t know how people frankly think that way and I’m not going to try to.”

Here’s a FACT: Teams aren’t allowed in the garages now until the day of the event.

Here’s another FACT: Drivers aren’t allowed in the garages as once they are screened at the gate, they have to go straight to their motorhomes and wait there until a few minutes before opening ceremonies.

So, knowing all of this, he’s right and there’s no reason for us to believe otherwise. Now, if you don’t place the blame their direction and are still reading, thank you and lets keep going.

To those that are asking about the noose and how it got there. That’s a great question and here’s the factual answer.

Fact: The Talladega Superspeedway garage area that was used last October was recently constructed. It opened for the Cup Series weekend in October of 2019. That was the first time that they were even used. Prior to the NASCAR Cup Series showing up in October of 2019, there was no noose in any of their garage stalls around the track. When NASCAR showed up on Sunday morning of this past weekend, it was there.

“The FBI learned that garage number 4, where the noose was found, was assigned to Bubba Wallace last week,” the FBI said on Tuesday too. “The investigation also revealed evidence, including authentic video confirmed by NASCAR, that the noose found in garage number 4 was in that garage as early as October 2019.”

Fact: Lets debunk another wild conspiracy theory here. Wallace wasn’t given that garage knowing that a noose was there. Wallace didn’t have that garage stall in October of last year but rather the Wood Brothers did in their No. 21 Ford. The way garages are assigned are based off of owners points. There’s no deep conspiracy to go further rather than due to where Wallace is in the points standings, that’s why they were given garage stall 4. Period.

So, the FBI again further says that Wallace and RPM didn’t have anything to do with the noose and that it was there as early as October 2019. It couldn’t have been there prior to that because the garages weren’t ready yet.

Now, lets look at a timeline of Sunday’s events and you’ll see why RPM and NASCAR acted in the manners of which they did.

“On Sunday, after initial inspection prior to the race, a member of the 43 team saw the noose in the garage stall,” Phelps said on Thursday when detailing the timeline of events. “At roughly 4:30 NASCAR was alerted to the presence of the noose. At that point we did a full sweep of the garage by our security team and only the rope of the 43 team was a noose. All the others were regular ropes. At about 6 o’clock, NASCAR’s senior leadership met and immediately determined that this needed to be investigated and began the initial steps in the investigation. At approx. 7:30 I notified Bubba Wallace at what was found in the garage.”

If you were NASCAR, at that point on Sunday, you didn’t know that the noose was there prior to that day. At that point, you also have to take the temperature in the room.

There’s a lot of racial injustice going on right now and there was a Confederate Flag rally outside the track on both days as well as someone paying to fly a Confederate Flag over the track behind a plane on Sunday too.

So, for RPM to have a black driver and when they show up to the garage and see this, what else were they to do? Plus, what else was NASCAR to do? They weren’t aware of this last Fall and this was their first time seeing it.

“Upon learning of and seeing the noose, our initial reaction was to protect our driver,” Phelps continued. “We’re living in a highly charged an emotional time. We saw a symbol of hate and was only present in one area of the garage that of the 43 car of Bubba Wallace. As you can see from the photo, the noose was real, as was our concern for Bubba.”

FACT: That’s a noose and no other way to describe it. NASCAR says it’s a noose. The FBI even said that it was a noose.

Don’t believe me? Scroll up to the very first quote I used from the FBI. If you don’t want to scroll, I’ll repost it.

“Although the noose is now known to have been in garage number 4 in 2019, nobody could have known Mr. Wallace would be assigned to garage number 4 last week,” an FBI report stated on Tuesday.”

They used the word “noose.”

Everyone agreed this was a noose.

So, let’s allow Phelps to continue on now.

“Early Monday morning the FBI Birmingham office reached out to us,” Phelps said. “By roughly 10 o’clock the FBI arrived with roughly 15 field agents to begin their investigation. We provided the FBI with personnel access to the garage as well as video and images taken from the weekend and the 2019 Fall weekend as well. During the course of the day, the FBI interviewed race day personnel from multiple teams, NASCAR officials, Track fire and safety personnel and track custodial staff. Talladega Superspeedway also provided the FBI with a list of events that had taken place since October of 2019 — which is when the new garages open. The FBI reports back at the end of the day that their interviews are done for the day and that their evidence so far at that point was inconclusive with plans to complete their investigation the following morning.

“On Tuesday morning, NASCAR received additional video from a team and provided it to the FBI. The video collaborates the testimony from one of the videos that the FBI had conducted that the noose was present in that stall during the Fall Cup event. The US Attorney’s office and the FBI informed NASCAR that their investigation had conclusively found that this was not a hate crime.”

Now, lets pause again. This wasn’t a crime for this past weekend as it was there prior. The FBI was hired to investigate a matter for this past weekend. Their part is closed. So, for those blaming NASCAR, maybe you should stop. Here’s what they did.

“It was still our responsibility to find our answers to key questions,” Phelps said after hearing the FBI’s final assessment. “How did the noose get there? Was anyone an intended target? Was anyone in breach of the code of conduct agreement? Are nooses present elsewhere in other garages where we race?”

So, Phelps said that “NASCAR conducted a thorough sweep of all the garage areas across where the tracks where we race. Across those 29 tracks in 1,684 garage stalls, we found only 11 total that had a pull down rope tied in a knot and only 1 noose, the one discovered on Sunday in Bubba Wallace’s garage.”

So, for 1,684 garages inspected, there was just one noose. Again “noose.”

I’ll ask, how is this NASCAR’s fault again? How is this Bubba Wallace’s fault? When presented with these facts, what would you have done? Would you have just let this go? NASCAR didn’t.

While they said that since this was done last October and they don’t have the infrastructure in place to determine who did this, they will instead focus on moving forward and not allowing this to happen again further.

“We further determined that the noose was not in place when the October 2019 race weekend began but was created at some point during that weekend. Given that timing and the garage access and procedures at the time, we were unfortunately unable to determine with any certainty who tied this rope in this manner or why it was done.

“We know it brings up another question, how could it have gone unnoticed by so many people in October of 2019 and for the morning of June 21, 2020. Our ultimate conclusions were that to ensure this never happens again that no one walks by a noose without recognizing the potential damage that it can do.

“Moving forward we will be doing thorough sweeps of the garage area to ensure nothing like this happens again. We’re installing additional cameras in all of our garages. We will make any changes necessary to our sanctions and our code of conduct to mandate that all members of our industry complete sensitivity and unconscious biased training with specifics and timing forthcoming.”

They took a problem, reacted and came up with a solution to further help.

So, the only thing that I would caution and even Phelps cautioned that could have been done differently is their tone at the beginning of this. That’s why I used the word “alleged” above.

“When I spoke late Tuesday, the federal investigation had just completed,” Phelps said. “Before then, we were not allowed to comment beyond what was disclosed and we wanted to be sure we had a complete investigation and able to comment on detail.

“In hindsight, I should have used the word “alleged” in our statement. “After that we continued to gather facts to protect our investigation. We thought it was important that we put out a statement as quickly as we could and we did at roughly 10:40 on Sunday evening.

“Some feel the phrasing and words were not right and that comes with the territory. I will take full responsibility for that and the emotion tied to it. Based on the evidence we had, we felt that one of our drivers had been threatened — a driver who had been extremely courageous in his words and actions. It was our responsibility to react and investigate and that’s exactly what we did.”

Questions answered yet?