‘Cheers and tears’: NASCAR industry still celebrating Bubba Wallace’s first Cup win
In the week since Bubba Wallace won a NASCAR race at Talladega, he’s done what many Cup Series-winning drivers do. He flew back home and partied with friends, attended events around Charlotte followed by cameras and microphones, and thanked his sponsors and support network at nearly every stop.
There were some key differences between Wallace’s celebration and others, however. For example, he debriefed with one of the most famous figures in sports, Michael Jordan, after Monday’s rain-shortened race.
“We had a quick conversation as soon as I landed,” Wallace told The Observer. “I told him, ‘Hey man, I’m landing at the airport and I’m going right to the house to party.’ So it was short and sweet, but he was supportive.”
The victory was personal for Jordan since he’s a co-owner of Wallace’s 23XI Racing team alongside Cup driver Denny Hamlin. The organization is looking to expand on its first victory in the final five races of the 2021 season, despite being out of playoff contention, while aiming to add more top finishes next year with the addition of a second car driven by Kurt Busch.
“(Jordan was) proud of the team, but he’s like, ‘Let’s not get complacent. You still need to get more,’ ” Wallace said. “So that’s the winning mentality and that’s what makes us all better.”
Wallace’s victory touched more than those within the 23XI organization given its historical significance. He became the first Black driver to win a race at NASCAR’s top level since Wendell Scott’s victory in 1963. That was part of why the win was so emotional for at least one member of the NASCAR family, Brandon Thompson, who leads the sport’s diversity and inclusion initiatives.
“We definitely shared a moment, and we may or may not have shared a tear together,” Thompson said. “The impact of what that means to me personally and also what it means to broader society, the Black community, the NASCAR community at large, it’s almost tough to overstate.”
Thompson has chartered a parallel path as Wallace through the sport. He was working for Rev Racing as the operations manager while Wallace was driving for the team in his early years on the NASCAR scene. In 2010, Wallace made his debut in the sport’s lower-level K&N Pro Series East competing for Rev Racing through NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program. Wallace won his first race in the series at 16 years old to become, at the time, the youngest driver and the first Black driver to win in series history.
“I think no one is surprised by what we saw (Monday),” Thompson said. “We’ve always seen that (Wallace) had the type of talent, but to layer on the maturity and the way that he’s stepped into this leadership role has been so fulfilling.”
Fast forward from 2010 to last season, and Wallace was making national headlines after calling on NASCAR to ban the Confederate flag in the wake of nationwide social justice protests. That was around the same time Thompson was promoted to a newly created position of vice president of Diversity and Inclusion for NASCAR.
Fast forward from last year to earlier this week, and Wallace was throwing a party to celebrate his first Cup win with Thompson in attendance.
“We toasted and cried,” Thompson said. “Both. Cheers and tears.”
On Thursday, Wallace was honored at NASCAR’s annual Drive for Diversity Awards for being an “advocate for change this season.” He credited the Drive for Diversity program with helping jump-start his career, while Thompson highlighted how the victory signals a path for others to follow.
Wallace is the only full-time Black driver in NASCAR’s top series, although he’s not the first Drive for Diversity graduate to win a national series race. Kyle Larson, whose mother is Japanese-American, went through the same program and leads the Cup Series in wins this season with six victories. Daniel Suárez, a native of Mexico and another program graduate, won the 2016 Xfinity Series championship. He’s in his first season with Trackhouse Racing, which was established with a mission of engaging the Hispanic community with NASCAR.
“There’s a saying that, ‘You have to see it to be it,’ ” Thompson said. “And it’s been seen, so I think that’s what the impact (of Wallace’s win) is. We now know that there’s a path that’s charted directly from the Drive for Diversity program up through a Cup race win.”
Suárez is still seeking his first Cup win, and Trackhouse Racing team owner Justin Marks said Thursday that his program and its diversity efforts are “really just right at the beginning.” Trackhouse was awarded the Drive for Diversity “Team Award” by NASCAR this year.
Thompson said that the Drive for Diversity program is especially focused on establishing career paths for women and people of color, and its fan-facing inclusion efforts this year. But for Wallace, Thompson and the NASCAR industry at large, Wallace’s first Cup win signified a moment of celebration years in the making. They’re hopeful the win represented a breakthrough with more to come.
“It definitely helps with the mentality of showing up and knowing that I’m a winner now,” Wallace said. “ ... You can get in trouble with that much confidence because you think you’re on top of the world, and this sport humbles you very quickly.”
“I’m just trying to show up with the right team, the right people, sponsors, they keep your level checked,” he said. “And we know that we still have some races to go out and win.”
