ESPN’s Marty Smith absolutely went off on Bubba Wallace noose incident

ESPN NASCAR reporter Marty Smith didn’t hold back on how he felt about finding a noose in Bubba Wallace’s garage on Sunday. 

The incident needs no explanation: On Sunday, someone put a noose in the garage of the only Black driver in NASCAR.

Bubba Wallace and his NASCAR team, who have been vocal supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement, found the noose on Sunday night ahead of this week’s GEICO 500 race. The sport confirmed and immediately condemned the incident.

Wallace has come out and said that the incident won’t deter him from racing or speaking out in support of Black Lives Matter. He’s not alone, as Wallace was met with a wave of support on social media and from some of NASCAR’s most prominent figures.

Marty Smith, who covers NASCAR for ESPN, was among the loudest and angriest voices in the wake of the news breaking about the noose’s discovery.

Smith appeared on Sportscenter with Scott Van Pelt, and did not hold back how angry and sickened he was about the whole incident.

What did Marty Smith say about the Bubba Wallace noose incident?

“It pisses me the hell off and it pisses everybody else in the sport off who care, not only for Bubba but for every single person he is standing up for,” Smith emphatically argued.

After calling out whoever put the noose in Wallace’s garage and deeming the incident ‘despicable crap’, Smith explained why it is exactly that.

“For a young man in Bubba Wallace who has galvanized so many people because he was willing to stand up for something that is so long overdue, and NASCAR’s current management level, executive level agrees that it was time to take this stand, and somebody goes and does this. You’re not just hurting one or two people, whomever you are. You’re hurting a whole lot of people who have made the decision that it is damn sure time to go be better.”

Drivers both past and present have come out in support of Wallace as well. Dale Earnhardt Jr., racing royalty, declared he hopes to see Wallace win the GEICO 500 when it takes place after being delayed for inclinations weather. On Monday, fellow drivers and crew members all helped push his car to the start of the track at Talladega as a show of support for Wallace.

The noose incident occurred roughly a week after NASCAR officially banned the use of the confederate flag at its events.