Bubba Wallace Becomes First African American NASCAR Driver to Win Cup Series Since 1963

TALLADEGA, Ala. – On Oct. 4, Darrell “Bubba” Wallace made history by becoming the first full-time African American NASCAR driver to win a Cup Series since Wendell Scott in 1963. The victory marked Wallace’s first win in his NASCAR career, and it comes in his first season with 23XI Racing, a team that was co-founded by basketball legend, Michael Jordan.

“It’s very rare. But it also inspires me that you’re making a difference in a sport that no one really thought could even happen. I feel gratitude, but I feel energized too. Let’s keep this thing rolling. Let’s have other Bubba Wallaces winning,” Jordan said in a recent interview with NBC’s Craig Melvin.

When asked about the historic win, “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, who was born in Alabama and raised in Concord, North Carolina, is the first Black driver to win at the top level of the elite stock car series since Wendell Scott in 1963, a race in which he wasn’t declared the victor until long after Buck Baker had already been awarded the trophy. NASCAR at last presented Scott’s family with his trophy from that race two months ago.

“You can’t swim standing on the Bank!!” tweeted Warrick Scott Sr., who is Scott’s grandson. “RIP Wendell Scott. Congratulations @bubbawallace!!” A second post showed his grandfather leaning against a car and read: “PaPa was there the whole time chilling in the rain.”

Wallace’s victory garnered praise from a range of voices on social media, including Bill Lester, a Black driver who raced intermittently in NASCAR from 1999 through a Truck series start this season.

“Finally, it’s official, you’ve done it!” Lester posted. “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.”

As much as Wallace wanted the moment to be solely about his first career win, he couldn’t ignore its significance in a predominantly white sport with deep Southern roots and a longtime embrace of Confederate symbols.

“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, but especially those who have supported me with everything that’s gone on the last 15-16 months.”

In June 2020 at Talladega, NASCAR discovered a noose in the garage stall assigned to Wallace. The finding came just a week after NASCAR had banned the Confederate flag at its events at Wallace’s urging.

The FBI investigated and found that the noose was tied at the end of the garage door pull and had been there for months, meaning Wallace was not a victim of a hate crime. Still, the series rallied around him and stood in solidarity with Wallace at the front of the grid before the race.

The flag ban continues to be an issue at Talladega, where a convoy of vehicles has paraded up and down Speedway Boulevard outside the main entrance of the speedway during all four race weekends since NASCAR announced the ban. The convoy was back this weekend and included one car pulling a trailer that contained a Civil War-era cannon.

Wallace has called the noose incident a low point, and he has been subjected to online harassment that last year even included a tweet from then-President Donald Trump that falsely accused Wallace of making up the noose. Although Wallace never saw the noose and was only told about it by NASCAR president Steve Phelps after the FBI had been summoned to investigate, he has been accused by many in the public of orchestrating a hoax.

When Monday’s race was halted with Wallace as the leader, social media was ablaze with comments attacking the 28-year-old. 

“They just are haters. That’s all you can really say about it,” said Denny Hamlin, Wallace’s team co-owner with Michael Jordan and a fellow driver. “I try to say to him, ‘Don’t get your motivation trying to prove haters wrong. Instead, get your motivation from trying to do the people that support you proud.’

“That’s where the motivation is going to come from, is the people that are going to support you through the good times and the bad times,” Hamlin said.

“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. You’re going to go through a lot of bulls***. But you always got to stick true to your path and not let the nonsense get to you,” said Wallace, fighting back tears after his historic win.