Darrell "Bubba" Wallace Jr., the only black driver in NASCAR's top racing series, has drawn widespread attention and acclaim for his principled stand that got the Confederate flag banned from races in a largely white sport.Yet, after years of often quiet acceptance of the sport's "
Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr., the only black driver in NASCAR’s top racing series, has drawn widespread attention and acclaim for his principled stand that got the Confederate flag banned from races in a largely white sport.
Unlike other African American athletes now speaking out in a tide of conversation and debate around race and denouncing police brutality, Wallace has found his voice in a sport surrounded by white peers. Many have supported him, but others have stayed silent. Story continuesWhen he was about 13, though, a driver’s parent and a race official called him a racial slur, prompting Desiree Wallace to sit her son down for a serious talk.“Those are ignorant people, Bub,” Desiree Wallace recalled telling him, using the short version of the nickname his sister, Brittany, gave him when he was a baby.
Wallace still had braces on his teeth when he showed up with a level of determination that immediately impressed Siegel, who recalled this week that Wallace “was the entire package” because he was smart and showed immense talent. The critics nagged him so much that he was moved to pin a message on his Twitter page reminding everyone that he will be known as “the black driver” for years because there is only one African American athlete at NASCAR’s top level. “Embrace it, accept it and enjoy the journey,” he said.
They would challenge fans to beer pong competitions and play what Wallace called “redneck Jenga,” in which people try to dismantle a stack of two-by-fours without toppling them. The drivers would laugh and sign autographs, while the fans’ Confederate flags flew atop motor homes and pickups.Yet Wallace said he has struggled at times. In the back of his mind, he understands that to keep his job in the top series he must start winning.
Part of the reason for his tears after he finished second in the Daytona 500 in 2018, Desiree Wallace said, was that Bubba’s father wasn’t celebrating with them at the track. That finish is still his best result in the top series. Not long after came the case of George Floyd, a black man who died May 25 after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on the back of his neck for several minutes. Wallace sent a group text to other top drivers, telling them he was frustrated that so many of them had been silent about it as people protested around the nation.
On the Fox show, “NASCAR Race Hub,” Wallace broke down in tears while reading a text his mother had sent him after Floyd’s death.
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