People in the News: Bubba Wallace
American automobile racing driver Bubba Wallace
Credit: © Grindstone Media Group/Shutterstock
Bubba Wallace, an American automobile racing driver, is the most successful African American driver active in NASCAR (the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing). Wallace made headlines in 2020 when he called on NASCAR to ban displays of the Confederate battle flag at its events.
Wallace competes in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup series. He joined the series as a replacement for an injured driver in 2017. Wallace became the first African American to race in NASCAR’s top series since Bill Lester in 2006. In 2018, Wallace joined the series full-time. He finished second at the Daytona 500 race in 2018 and third at the Brickyard 400 in 2019.
Darrell Wallace, Jr., was born Oct. 8, 1993, in Mobile, Alabama. He grew up in Concord, North Carolina. He began racing at the age of 9. Wallace is a graduate of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program, designed to help women and nonwhite drivers gain entry to the sport.
Wallace joined the regional K & N Pro East Series in 2010. He was named the series Rookie of the Year, becoming the first African American to win the honor in a NASCAR series. In 2012, he joined NASCAR’s second-tier Xfinity Series, finishing seventh in the series in 2015. He joined NASCAR’s Camping World Truck Series in 2013. That year, he won the Kroger 200 race in Martinsville, Virginia. He became the first African American driver to win a national touring series race since Wendell Scott in 1963.
The American automobile racing driver Bubba Wallace poses next to his car, number 43, before a race at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia in 2020. Wallace, who is African American, sported a Black Lives Matter theme on his car in the wake of the George Floyd killing.
Credit: © Jared C. Tilton, Getty Images
In the wake of the George Floyd killing, Wallace asked NASCAR to ban displays of the Confederate battle flag, noting that the flag is seen by many as a racist symbol. (Floyd, an African American man, died in police custody after an officer knelt on his neck for several minutes, sparking widespread protests against police brutality.) NASCAR, which had asked fans not to display the flag since 2015, quickly enacted the ban. Wallace also drove his car, number 43, sporting a Black Lives Matter theme and wore a t-shirt bearing the words “I can’t breathe,” said to be Floyd’s last words.
