Bubba Wallace finished fifth in the first stage of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday night. The early success came after someone broke into Wallace’s radio channel and said “white lives matter.”
The first occurrence was on Lap 33. Crew chief Bootie Barker said that if it happened again, the team would have to switch to a backup channel.
Sounds like a “fan” just wound up on Wallace’s channel.
Bubba asks if his team heard the bleed-over to which Barker says yes. Notes they’ll switch to channel two if it persists.
Apparently happened yesterday as well. #NASCAR
— Zach Sturniolo (@zachstur) May 29, 2022
Fox Sports’ Bob Pockrass reported a switch was the team’s lone option.
the only thing the 23 can do with someone on their channel is to try to go to the backup channel. https://t.co/J20tL6us7g
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) May 29, 2022
MORE: Live updates, results, highlights from Coca-Cola 600
While it may come as a surprise that drivers are using public channels in high-stakes races, there’s a good reason NASCAR doesn’t use encrypted communication, per Pockrass.
NASCAR wants to be able to listen, and wants the fans to be able to listen, to the team-to-driver communications. https://t.co/qqbdTY0Ztb
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) May 29, 2022
The policy means the limited recourse for Wallace — the only Black driver in the Cup Series — and his team of switching to the backup channel.
Wallace ultimately crashed out of the race after being caught up in a wreck on Lap 192.