The hard part was not dodging his way around a crash and then driving to the front of the field at Talladega Superspeedway. That was just instinct for Bubba Wallace.
The challenge was the 45 minutes after Wallace took the lead, when the sky opened and he anxiously sat in the rain — hoping, wishing, praying — that NASCAR would call off Monday’s rescheduled race and declare him the winner.
With a crowd gathered behind his pit stand chanting its support — one man told his six-year-old son, clad in a Wallace shirt and jumping up and down along the fence, that he was “witnessing history” — NASCAR pulled the plug and Wallace became just the second black driver to win a race at the Cup Series level.
Photo: AFP
“Got some credibility to my name now,” said Wallace, a first-time Cup winner in his 143 starts. “I’m just like: ‘Finally, I’m a winner and I’m a winner in the Cup level,’ and it’s just like: ‘Hell yeah.’ It was a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.”
This was so much more than just a first win.
Wallace is the first black driver to win at the top level of the elite stock car series since Wendell Scott in 1963, a race where he was not declared the victor until long after Buck Baker had already been rewarded the trophy. NASCAR at last presented Scott’s family with his trophy from that race two months ago.
The Wallace victory earned praise from rapper Big Sean, the University of Tennessee football team and Bill Lester, a black driver who raced intermittently in NASCAR from 1999 through a Trucks Series start this season, among others.
“Finally, it’s official, you’ve done it!” Lester wrote on Twitter. “So proud of you and what you’ve accomplished. Your win moves the @NASCAR needle forward on so many fronts. Glad I was a witness.”
The race was spotlighted on NBC’s Nightly News at the top of Monday’s broadcast, illustrating how culturally important Wallace’s win was for NASCAR, a predominately white sport with deep Southern roots and a longtime embrace of Confederate symbols.
As much as Wallace wanted the moment to be solely about his first career win, he could not ignore the significance.
“It’s definitely been tough going to some of the tracks this year, we get some of the most boos now,” Wallace said. “Everybody says as long as they’re making noise that’s fine, but you know, I get booed for different reasons and that’s the tough thing to swallow. I appreciate all those who were there doing the rain dance with us, pulling for us, supporting me my whole career.”
NASCAR tried to dry the track for nearly 45 minutes, but called things off as sunset approached and the rain showed no sign of ceasing.
Wallace had been waiting atop his pit stand and celebrated wildly with his crew when the decision came. Wallace is in his first season driving for 23X1 Racing, a team owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan.
“I’m so happy for Bubba and our entire 23XI Racing team. This is a huge milestone and a historic win for us,” Jordan wrote on Twitter. “From the day we signed him, I knew Bubba had the talent to win and Denny and I could not be more proud of him. Let’s go!”
Wallace broke down in tears after he returned to his parked No. 23 Toyota, the vehicle number picked for Jordan, who wore 23 in the NBA.
“This is for all the kids out there that want to have an opportunity and whatever they want to achieve, and be the best at what they want to do,” Wallace said as he choked back tears. “You’re going to go through a lot of [BS], but you always got to stick true to your path and not let the nonsense get to you.”
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