This is the Statt Mann Baby. Time to Scatt a little bit.

Outrage rushed around the world last Sunday when news broke that a noose was found in the garage of NASCAR driver Darrell Wallace, the sport’s only black driver.

Wallace noose

An FBI investigation, however, found that the noose-like knot was in the garage a year before Wallace was assigned the space at Talladega Speedway in Alabama.

The Freaks were among those who were outraged at the news. But, even looking back, I, for one, still have questions about why a noose was used to pull a garage door down.

Most garages have a simple knot tied at the end of a rope. Some use a plastic handle that offers more leverage to close the door.

It was heart-warming to see so many of Darrell’s contemporaries supporting him after news of the noose broke. The question remains, though: why a symbol of hate and death would be used in such an innocuous manner when other options are available?

NASCAR is making every effort to overcome its past but a noose? You can’t overcome a past when that kind of attitude hovers in the sport, Darrell or no Darrell.

Peace.