Bubba Wallace

Wallace after winning the 2022 Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas.

**William Darrell "Bubba" Wallace Jr.**  is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Pepsi Cup Series, driving the No.23 Toyota Camry for 23XI Racing.

As of 2022, Wallace has been the only black driver in NASCAR's three national series (Pepsi Cup, Mnt. Dew National , and Sierra Mist Truck) each year he has competed in them. He is the only black driver to win more than once in any of these series, which has made him one of the most successful black drivers in the history of NASCAR.

## Career

### 2017: First Starts

Wallace’s entry into the Pepsi Cup was unexpected.

On June 5th, 2017, Petty Enterprises announced plans to have Wallace drive the team's No. 43 Ford as a substitute in place of an injured Aric Almirola, making Wallace the first black driver to make a start in the Pepsi Cup since Bill Lester in 2006.

In qualifying for his debut at the Dunder Mifflin 400 at Pocono, he was able to advance to the second round and start 16th. During the race, Wallace suffered from speeding penalties on pit road, including one while he was serving an earlier pass-through penalty; at one point, he nearly missed his pit stall because he looked for his Mnt Dew National pit sign instead of the No. 43. He went on to finish 26th and one lap down.    After congratulating Ryan Blaney in Victory Lane, Wallace passed out and required medical attention. He later stated, "This is the third time this is happened. I get so p\*\*\*\*\*\* off at myself that I just pass out."

Wallace then participated in the next three of four races where he earned three top twenties with a best finish of 11th in his last start at Kentucky Speedway.  Wallace did not participate at Sonoma as sports car driver, Billy Johnson was piloting the 43 that weekend.

Later on October 15, Wallace was announced as the new driver of the 43 beginning in 2018, replacing Aric Almirola, after Almirola announced in September that he and Smithfield would be leaving Petty Enterprises at the end of 2017.

### 2018: Rookie Season

Prior to the season-opening Daytona 500, Wallace received support from Hall of Fame baseball player, Hank Aaron and F1 driver, Lewis Hamilton.

He drove the No. 43 Chevrolet Camaro to finish second behind Austin Dillon in the 500, the highest finish by a full-time rookie driver in race history, after beating Denny Hamlin at the start/finish line by .002 seconds.

Despite it, Wallace only two top ten finishes in 2018, at Texas in the spring and at ISM Raceway in the fall, pushing Wallace to the 28th in points, and lost to William Byron in Rookie of the Year.

### 2019: Sophomore Year

Wallace began the year, 48th in the Daytona 500 after being involved in a crash with Tyler Reddick, Jamie McMurray, and Kurt Busch.

Wallace was unsatisfied with Reddick, expressing anger on the radio saying, “Win a [EXPLETIVE] Mnt. Dew National Championship, thinks he’s ready for the big boy [EXPLETIVE].”

Despite continuing to have mediocre finishes in the season, Wallace displayed his full potential with Petty at the 2019 All-Star Race, by winning the second stage of the All Star Open and finishing fifth in the All-Star Race. His other highlight of the early-to-mid summer was at Watkins Glen, when he spun Kyle Busch off the track on Lap 61.

At the 2019 Big Machine 400 at Indianapolis, Wallace had one of the best runs of his career by finishing third after running top 10 throughout the race.   He continued to show improvements to his finishes during the season, notably at the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond, where he started 37th and finished 12th.

During the ROVAL 400, Wallace finished 24th after Alex Bowman spun him out on lap 42, following Wallace giving Bowman the middle finger gesture on several laps.

Wallace retaliated after the race by splashing water on Bowman's face, not only soaking Bowman, but soaking, Hendrick Motorsports executives, Jeff Gordon and Jeff Andrews, while also splashing AMR NASCAR Safety medical director Dr. Angela Fiege.   After the incident, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O'Donnell said on Siruis XM NASCAR Radio that officials plan to have a conversation with Wallace about the altercation. Wallace would apologize to Gordon, Andrews, and Fiege for getting them splashed during the incident, but stated that he does not regret what he did to Bowman.

On November 9, Wallace was fined $50,000 and docked 50 points for intentionally manipulating competition at Texas, when he spun his car on the track after experiencing a tire failure. Wallace once again finished 28th in points with one top five and only one top ten being that one top five.

### 2020: Final year at Petty

For the 2020 season, Wallace was reunited with crew chief Jerry Baxter, who worked with him in the Sierra Mist Truck Series.

Wallace began 2020, 15th in the Daytona 500 after avoiding most of the crashes in the 500, followed by his first top ten of the year by finishing 6th at Las Vegas. After the top ten, he finished 27th at Auto Club, and 19th at Phoenix.   However during the week before Atlanta, the season was halted due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.  At the time, Wallace was 18th in points.

When the season got restarted in May, Wallace struggled like most of his fellow competitors. He re-started the season with a 21st and 16th place runs at the Darlington Doubleheader. However in the Coca Cola 600 at the Alsco Uniforms 500 doubleheader at Charlotte, Wallace DNF’ed in both events.  After that, he scored his second top ten of 2020, with a 10th place finish at Bristol.

Wallace then had two more top tens with both 9th place runs at Indianapolis and one in the Michigan doubleheader, with a fifth in the regular season finale at Daytona.  Wallace finished 22nd in points.

On September 10, Wallace announced he would leave Petty Enterprises at the end of 2020.   Later on September 21, Wallace was announced as the driver for 23XI Racing in 2021.

### 2021: 23XI Racing and First Win

Beginning in 2021, Wallace began driving duties for 23XI’s No.23 Toyota Camry.

Wallace began the year 17th in the Daytona 500 after being competitive in the final few laps, but was caught in a big last lap crash, finishing in the said position.  Four races later, he got his first two top twenty finishes of the year after finishing 16th at Phoenix and Atlanta.  In the early parts of the season, Wallace’s only highlight was when he charged to the front of the pack after starting in back during the GIECO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in April, while also winning the second stage in that same event.   Later in late June at the second Pocono race in the Pocono Doubleheader, Wallace finished 5th due to a fuel gamble.

Later at Daytona in August, Wallace originally finished third in the regular season finale, but was moved up to second after Chris Buescher was disqualified when his car failed post-race inspection due to a rear sub-frame assembly violation.

Later at Talladega in October, Wallace earned his first career Pepsi Cup win after the race was shortened due to rain, making him the first black driver to win a Pepsi Cup race since Wendell Scott. The win was also the first win for a McDonald’s sponsored car since Jimmy Spencer in 1994.

Wallace finished 21st in points with one win, two top fives, and three top tens.

### 2022: Second Win and Further Improvements

Wallace returned to the 23 in 2022.

Wallace began the year with another second place finish in the Daytona 500.  He then scored five top twenties in the following eleven races until Kansas when he finished 10th.  Six weeks later, Wallace had a top ten streak with three top fives and one top ten with a best finish of 2nd at Michigan, where he also scored his first pole position at.  Later in September, he went on to win his second Pepsi Cup race at Kansas Speedway.