TALLADEGA, AL—The FBI confirmed on Tuesday, June, 23, that after an investigation was conducted, the noose found in NASCAR driver’s Bubba Wallace’s garage was actually a garage pull.

The rope that was claimed to be a noose, has hung in garage four at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama since October 2019 and the FBI stated the driver was not a target of a hate crime. No charges will be further pursued.

The investigation follows after a crew member of Richard Petty Motorsport found the rope hanging in the garage on Sunday, June 21. Early reports and a statement by NASCAR suggested the discovery was a racist act towards Wallace, the organization’s only Black full time driver.

“On Monday, fifteen FBI special agents conducted numerous interviews regarding the situation at Talladega Superspeedway. After a thorough review of the facts and evidence surrounding this event, we have concluded that no federal crime was committed,” said U.S Attorney Jay Town. FBI Special Agent Johnnie Sharp Jr. continued in a joint statement, “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.”

Before official news broke, fellow NASCAR drivers and crew members pushed Wallace’s #43 car to the front of the line before the Geico 500 on Monday in an act of solidarity following the incident.

Wallace has been in the spotlight recently for his activism in the wake of social justice protests. He was a leading advocate for getting the confederate flag removed from NASCAR events less than two weeks ago. At another recent race, Wallace painted his car with a “Black Lives Matter” color scheme in support of the movement.

Wallace finished the race on Monday in 14th place, his career-best at Talladega.