NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace says he's "pissed" at having to bat off hoax theories , after an extraordinary outcome to an investigation into an incident that rocked the sport.
On Wednesday (NZT), the FBI found that not only was there no crime committed, but Wallace couldn't have been the victim of any alleged crime, after a noose was found hanging in his team garage.
But now that any foul play has been ruled out, Wallace is being targeted again.
"I'm pissed," Wallace tells CNN. "I'm mad because people are trying to test my character and the person that I am and my integrity and they're not stealing that away from me."
FBI officials said "the noose is now known to have been in garage number 4 in 2019" and "nobody could have known Mr. Wallace would be assigned to garage number 4 last week."
The news comes as a relief for NASCAR officials.
"The 43 team had nothing to do with this," says president Steve Phelps. "If given the evidence that we had was delivered to us on Saturday night .. we would do the same thing, we would have done the same investigation."
Wallace maintains that the rope in question was of a sinister nature.
"We've raced out of hundreds of garages that never had garage pulls like that. It's a straight up noose," he says.
Now after a tumultuous and emotional week, Wallace has another challenge to deal with
"None of the allegations of this being a hoax will break me or tear me down," Wallace insists.
"Will it piss me off? Absolutely. But that only fuels the competitive drive in me to shut everybody up."
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