DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Bubba Wallace always wanted to drive race cars; driving social change just happened.
Wallace enters Sunday’s Daytona 500 starting in Row 8 yet in a singular position being NASCAR’s only Black driver in the Cup Series.
During a time in America when differences are discussed, debated, celebrated or castigated, Wallace is a celebrity to some and a cause célèbre to others.
The career Wallace chose and the life he lives are often at odds, at times feeling like more G-force than a human being can handle.
Wallace, a 28-year-old Alabamian, faces the challenge head-on and keeps his hands firmly on the wheel.
“I am who I am and I love who I am. Love what I do,” Wallace said. “I’m the type of person to walk into a room, and if the environment’s off, I’ll do my best to make it in an environment that I want to be in. If that makes a few people uncomfortable, then so be it.
“There’s a problem because everyone else can’t seem to accept change. And one day we’ll have a wake-up call. It just hasn’t happened yet.”
Wallace’s inner strength, on-track talent and financial support have greased the wheels for a shift in a sport deeply rooted in the Southeast, a region with an ugly history of racism.
Founded in 1948, NASCAR staged the first Daytona 500 in 1959, more than a decade before Florida’s public schools — including those in Volusia County — were fully integrated during the fall of 1970.
A sport built on fast cars has been slow to diversify in the garage and grandstands, but is now gaining some traction.
“Seeing different races and genders and kinds of people at the racetrack, that’s what you want — to see the sport growing with people we haven’t seen before,” 24-year-old driver Cole Custer said. “So just having that everybody included in our sport is huge.”
Consider:
— NASCAR’s fan base was reported to be 91% white in 2016-17. Yet a 2021 survey indicated fans who became fans of the sport during the previous three years were 22% Hispanic, 19% Black and 9% Asian — or half of all new fans.
— During the summer of 2020, NASCAR appointed industry veteran Brandon Thompson, who is Black, to the newly created position of vice president for diversity and inclusion. Jusan Hamilton is set to become the first Black race director in Daytona 500 history.
— NBA legend Michael Jordan’s and three-time 500 winner Denny Hamlin launched 23XI Racing and chose Wallace to drive for it during the 2021 season. Rapper Pitbull’s Trackhouse Racing also debuted in 2021 with Mexican driver Daniel Suarez.
This past week at Daytona International Speedway, Grambling State University partnered with John Cohen, an alum of the historical Black college and NY Racing owner, to sponsor veteran driver Greg Biffle. Boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s Money Team Racing qualified for Sunday’s race with Kaz Grala.
Jesse Iwuji, who his Black, began his first full Xfinity Series season Saturday with a team backed by NFL Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith.
Wallace, though, remains the face of change in the sport.
Fellow drivers, including a legend of the sport, admire Wallace’s willingness and wherewithal to handle the role.
“I commend him tremendously,” seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson told the Orlando Sentinel. “He’s put himself in a position to share his growth as a race car driver and somebody that’s standing up for equality. Neither of those journeys are easy.”
Wallace’s challenge intensified in June 2020 at Talladega Speedway, four hours north of his native Mobile.
NASCAR discovered a noose in the garage stall assigned to Wallace. The finding came on the heels of a ban of the Confederate flag at its events in response to Wallace’s urging.
An FBI investigation determined the rope tied at the end of the garage door pull was commonplace, not a hate crime. Yet the solidarity shown by Wallace’s fellow drivers who joined him before the race sent a message.
Poetic justice arrived 16 months later when Wallace drove his No. 23 Toyota Camry to Victory Lane during a rain-shortened race at the same track.
Wallace became the first Black driver to win at NASCAR’s top level since Wendell Scott’s 1963 victory in Jacksonville, a race during which he wasn’t declared the victor until long after Buck Baker received the trophy.
“We’re all really happy to see him win, at Talladega — the same race track where all that mess happened in 2020,” defending Cup Series champion Kyle Larson said. “That was neat.”
Rarely are things so cut-and-dried in Wallace’s world.
Wallace enters his fifth season in the Cup Series clearly fatigued by questions seeking what it means to be Black driver in NASCAR or how his answers have evolved through his experiences.
“It’s always the media asking that question. I’m never walking in and saying that,” he said this week. “That’s always been my take. When will you stop hearing about me being the Black driver? Whenever y’all stop saying it. Simple as that.”
At the same time, Wallace’s race has provided opportunities. His relationship with 23XI Racing and sponsorships with McDonald’s are enviable.
Winning at Talladega was pivotal for Wallace and the new team.
“It renewed enthusiasm,” Hamlin said. “McDonald‘s hasn’t been in victory lane as a primary sponsor in decades before that. It’s just reinvigorating their excitement within our sport and certainly that goes a long way.”
Wallace still has miles to go as an elite driver. He finished last season 21st in the standings and well out of the 16-driver playoff.
Hamlin and Jordan signed 43-year-old veteran Kurt Busch, the 2017 Daytona 500 winner, to add to his 33 career wins alongside Wallace’s lone victory.
Busch is increasingly impressed with his teammate the more he’s gotten to know him.
“We can all see he’s had a lot of weight on his shoulders over the years,” Busch said. “I want him to settle in as a regular guy. But that will never happen. He has so much responsibility, he just has to juggle more things.”
Rising star Ryan Blaney, Wallace’s closest friend, is at times awed how he handles the demands of media, sponsors and fans with aplomb.
“I look at his schedule and the things he does; I’d be exhausted if I was him,” Blaney said. “He does so many things, but it’s really great and it’s grown the sport to a new level. I’m proud of the job he has done of not just rolling over on these things and wanting to do them. It helps the sport and it helps everyone around it.
“It’s been cool to watch that kind of grow.”
NASCAR hopes this is the beginning of diversification expanding the sport. Wallace focuses on driving, winning and making his name on the asphalt.
The goals are ultimately one in the same.
In the end, Wallace’s competitors see all sides of him but primarily view him as the one thing — a NASCAR driver — he wants the outside world first to see.
“The cliche is true; that diversity is a strength,” veteran Brad Keselowski said. “It’s not just diversity in the color of our skin or gender or religious issues. Diversity in perspective and approach is good. He’s got a different perspective that is super healthy for our sport. There’s going to be some people that don’t like it, some people that don’t like it just because they don’t like different perspectives and some people that don’t like it for the ugly truth of racism.
“I’m not really all that interested in the race stuff because it doesn’t really mean that much to me to begin with. I see him as another racer and I don’t see his skin color. I never have. I see him as another racer and someone I want to be beat, but someone I respect the challenges that they’re going through.”
