NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace spoke to Don Lemon Tuesday after the FBI confirmed the noose discovered in his garage at the Talladega Superspeedway over the weekend could have been there since October 2019.

Lemon confirmed on his CNN show that the FBI had determined the driver had not been a victim of a hate crime, before asking Wallace how he was feeling about the whole thing.

Wallace said, “I’m p**sed. I’m mad because people were trying to test my character and the person I am. They’re not stealing that from me but they’re trying to test that.”

As Lemon then asked if he was reading comments on social media, the driver said he was, but insisted, “I’m trying hard not to. After tonight I’ll turn my phone off.”

He added of doing more interviews Wednesday, “My side needs to be heard.”

RELATED: NASCAR Stars Rally Behind Bubba Wallace After Noose Found In His Stall

Wallace also went into detail about how NASCAR president Steve Phelps told him about the noose, admitting he had tears in his eyes and rolling down his face.

“I was taken back,” Wallace, who thought he was being suspended over something he did, said.

“I never seen the noose. I never reported it.”

He also said of the item being described as a “garage door pull rope fashioned like a noose”: “It was a noose. Whether tied in 2019 or whatever, it was a noose. So, it wasn’t directed at me but somebody tied a noose. That’s what I’m saying.”

“You won’t break me,” Wallace insisted. “You won’t tear me down.”

He later tweeted:

ESPN journalist Marty Smith then confirmed NASCAR had released a photo of the garage pull rope formed as a noose Thursday.

He posted:

Wallace’s comments come after a joint statement was released by U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp Jr.,

“After a thorough review of the facts and evidence surrounding this event, we have concluded that no federal crime was committed,” the statement read.

According to the statement, the investigation found evidence — including on video — that the noose found in Wallace’s garage had been there for months, “as early as October 2019. 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.”

As a result of the investigation’s findings, no federal charges will be pursued.

NASCAR also issued a statement, confirming that the “garage door pull rope fashioned like a noose had been positioned there since as early as last fall,” proving that “Bubba Wallace was not the target of a hate crime” and “this was not an intentional, racist act.”