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 a Black American racer, sported a Black Lives Matter theme on his car in the wake of the George Floyd killing.
© Jared C. Tilton, Getty Images

On Monday, Oct. 4, 2021, Bubba Wallace became the second Black driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race. NASCAR driver Wendell Scott was the first Black person to win a Cup race in 1963. Wallace won the race at the Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama.

Wallace is an American automobile racing driver. Wallace competes in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, supervised by NASCAR. NASCAR is the organization that governs the most popular form of stock car automobile racing in the United States. The full name of the organization is the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race is considered the premier championship series of stock car racing. In the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, a 26-race regular season championship series leads to a 10-race playoff. At the end of the playoff, the four leading drivers race for the total season championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida.

Wallace joined the series as a replacement for an injured driver in 2017. Wallace became the first Black 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.

American automobile racing driver Bubba Wallace
© Grindstone Media Group/Shutterstock

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 Black 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 Black American driver to win a national touring series race since Wendell Scott in 1963.

In 2020, in the wake of the George Floyd killing, Wallace called on NASCAR to ban displays of the Confederate battle flag at its events, noting that the flag is seen by many as a racist symbol. NASCAR, which had been asking fans not to display the flag since 2015, quickly enacted a ban.

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.