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“Jumped on the Woke Wagon”: NASCAR’s Approval of Bubba Wallace, Who Is Burdened by Michael Jordan’s Legacy, Furiously Trashed by Fans

Published 07/01/2023, 3:46 PM EDT

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Within a short span of 3 years, 23XI Racing has cemented itself as one of the most promising teams in the Cup Series. Though Michael Jordan’s team lost its ace driver, Kurt Busch following a vicious crash at Pocono last year, sidelining the driver with concussive symptoms, Tyler Reddick‘s performances have been splendid unlike his teammate, Bubba Wallace’s dramatic antics.

The 29-year-old Alabama native certainly has a niche, the niche in the sense of having a peculiar relationship with the fanbase like none other, a love or hate kind of thing. While his races at Darlington and Dover earned him a lot of praise, his inconsistency and off-track antics have certainly cast a shadow on his persona being the NBA great’s NASCAR driver.

And yet again, Wallace is back in the spotlight. This time though, fans are boiling over the organization’s over-promotion of its only African-American driver in its top-tier division.

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NASCAR’s recent Chicago promo goes terribly wrong as fans bash Bubba Wallace left and right

With the NASCAR nation headed to an exciting race week in Chicago, the organization is doing everything in its power to make its first-ever street course an unforgettable experience for its fans. Despite the backlash from old-school fans for straying away from the sport’s core values, younger NASCAR fans are all giving a thumbs up for the spectacle and eagerly waiting for the 2-day event.

And riding the hype to Chicago is Bubba Wallace, the driver recently had a lavish party block party in Washington Park to introduce NASCAR to a new audience. Moreover, Wallace‘s sponsor and NASCAR founding promotional sponsor of NASCAR’s Chicago Street race, McDonald’s has collaborated with the driver to launch a special meal exclusive for Chicago and Northwest Indiana.

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With the organization putting everything out there with its promotional campaign, a recent NASCAR tweet has sparked widespread criticism owing to its over-the-top promotional spree. And this has ticked off a series of fan comments and tweets, calling out Wallace over his political notion and NASCAR for its over-promotion of the “mediocre” driver.

NASCAR tweeted out a 20-second clip where a young fan keeps staring at the #23 Toyota without a beat in an urban background, signaling the street course in Chicago. The tweet captioned, “We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, NASCAR moves pretty fast,” garnered quite a response from the community as they bashed MJ’s “mediocre” driver mercilessly.

WATCH THIS STORY: $6 million worth rapper headlined Bubba Wallace’s initiative steals NASCAR fandom’s breath

Being a proud Toyota driver in MJ’s team certainly has its ups and downs and Wallace may be more familiar with the downs. In fact, despite starting off his Cup Series career back in 2018, Wallace has had a rather disappointing timeline, choking, and crashing out, with fans furious and frustrated seeing the NBA legend’s NASCAR driver failing to deliver the hype.

Fans trash Wallace as they call out both NASCAR and its driver

While the 29-year-old is still chasing his first win of this season, the organization’s effort to add some more oomph has failed miserably as fans called out NASCAR for over-promoting Wallace. Though he is known for his talent in speedways and short tracks, Wallace has lost his edge this season with inconsistency and on-track incidents rattling the driver.

With the community fed up with the driver’s fiascos, NASCAR’s latest tweet reignited the controversy of Wallace being a privileged individual rather than being a talented driver. Enraged by his leftist ideology, a fan commented brutally slammed NASCAR and the driver.

And the over promotion of this mediocre driver continues all because NASCAR has jumped on the woke wagon.”

While another fan roasted Wallace, citing his inability to keep the speed on the track.

If your talking being fast, you’re showing the wrong car”

Gee, I wonder why they went with the #23? DUH”

Whereas another fan commented,

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“Not that car ,the 23 ,he’s tired ,and done”

On the other hand, a user pointed out the despicable state of the sport for not sticking to the core virtues.

Those are your “New NASCAR Fans”. I’m sure glad I’m not one of them. And you wonder why NASCAR is failing across the board, you won’t talk about it but promote the New Fans that will never have a clue.” 

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What are your thoughts about the Chicago Street race? Will it be a game changer or will it be another stalemate? Tell us your thoughts in the comments down below.

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Written by:

Kishore R

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Kishore is a NASCAR Writer at EssentiallySports. With a degree in engineering, Kishore's love for automobiles, particularly the roaring naturally-aspirated V8s, naturally led him to NASCAR. Kishore's writing is characterized by his intense passion for the sport, as well as his ability to conduct in-depth research and analysis.
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Edited by:

Nischal Kandpal