#bubba wallace

[frederikvesti]

ALTER EGO | indycar & nascar drama ✨

[ryanfailey]

Daniel Suárez & Bubba Wallace at the 2026 Coca Cola 600

[nascar]

SOME DAYTONA 500 INTROS February 15th, 2026

[crooked-mile]

y'all.

[robinfrinjs]

BUBBA WALLACE wins the Brickyard 400

[mxgicdave]

bubba as todays warmup

[ottovonruthie]

This Black History Month, I’m honoring the legacy of Black excellence in sports by spotlighting one Black athlete each day—28 athletes, 28 stories, 28 legacies.

Day 17: Bubba Wallace

The first time many people who didn’t even follow NASCAR heard the name Bubba Wallace was in 2020, when news broke that a noose had been found in his garage stall at Talladega. Even though a later investigation determined the rope had not been placed there to target him specifically, the moment traveled far beyond the sport itself. It pulled in people who had never watched a race, forcing a wider audience to confront the realities of racism in NASCAR — and to realize that Wallace was the only Black full-time driver competing at its highest level. The symbol mattered regardless of intent, and so did who it appeared to be waiting for.

Born Darrell Wallace Jr. in Alabama and raised in North Carolina, Wallace began racing at just nine years old. His talent eventually brought him into NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program, designed to open doors that had long been closed. At 17, he became the first African American to win Rookie of the Year honors in a NASCAR series. Success followed in the Truck Series, where his six wins marked the highest-level NASCAR victories by a Black driver since Scott.

Wallace reached NASCAR’s top tier in 2017, stepping into the iconic No. 43 car once driven by Richard Petty. The following year, he took over the ride full time. His results were uneven — likewise for drivers without elite equipment — but his presence alone mattered. High-profile finishes at the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 reminded fans that he belonged, even when the culture around him seemed resistant to accepting that fact.

Where Wallace’s impact became undeniable was off the track. In the summer of 2020, amid nationwide protests following the killing of George Floyd, Wallace wore a “I Can’t Breathe” shirt and openly called for NASCAR to ban the Confederate flag from its events. For years, the flag had been tolerated — visible on clothing, cars, and infields — despite being a symbol of violence and exclusion. Within days of Wallace’s statement, NASCAR officially banned the flag. It was a seismic shift in a sport that rarely moves quickly or willingly on cultural issues. Surely that stance came with a cost but his commitment to speaking up will always be honourable.

In a sport built on tradition, he proved that progress sometimes comes from the driver willing to take the long way forward.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/12/sports/autoracing/nascar-confederate-flag-bubba-wallace.html

[scottdixon]

real star of the show