A North Carolina race track owner is receiving tons of backlash after advertising a "Bubba Rope" on Facebook, mimicking the alleged noose that was found in NASCAR's only full-time black driver, Bubba Wallace's garage this week at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.
Mike Fulp, the owner of the half-mile 311 Speedway in Stokes County, N.C. advertised a rope on a now-removed Facebook marketplace post, writing: “Buy your Bubba Rope today for only $9.99 each, they come with a lifetime warranty and work great.”
Fulp's post received tons of backlash, including from North Carolina's governor Roy Cooper.
Fulp’s page announced on Monday that the speedway is sponsoring a “Heritage Night” on Saturday. A later post on the event encouraged fans to purchase a variety of items, including Confederate flags and caps, and added, “don’t forget your 2nd Amendment Right, 311 Speedway.”
Fulp also opened up his racetrack in May despite Cooper’s order banning large gatherings due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite being a misunderstanding, the noose incident led NASCAR to have a powerful moment before Monday's race as all the drivers walked with Wallace to his 43 car in a moment of unity.
“It is horrible that someone would post something of that nature,'' NAACP chapter president Jeff Crisp told the Winston Salem Journal after reviewing the post. "It's just absolutely unnecessary in these times of tension. You go back to slavery days and hanging people and calling them 'strange fruit' on the trees because there were so many slaves hanged. This is not the time for comments like this, just causing unnecessary tension.''
NASCAR President Steve Phelps told reporters on Thursday that Wallace and his team had no involvement with the incident and he has represented NASCAR over the last few weeks with class, courage and dignity.