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Bubba Wallace on “The Biggest Challenge” Which Left NASCAR to Question Him, “‘Hey, You’re Serious About This?’”

Published 12/01/2022, 12:00 PM EST

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Michael Jordan co-owned NASCAR team 23XI Racing’s driver, Bubba Wallace, is almost like a celebrity in the world of NASCAR at this point. He recently mentioned how he had come up with the idea of initiating a block party in his name. After several successful runs of the event, he mentioned how the entire thing came into existence and how he plans to get the crowd attending those parties into a NASCAR race as an audience.

Wallace stated, That’s the biggest challenge. To be honest with you, we had Bubba’s block party twice now, at Richmond, at Birmingham, and it’s continued to grow and be a lot of fun. I went into those deals, and it all started kind of just from an idea, like, hey, why don’t have, like, a block party type event and you know have a diverse crowd out, have some key artists come out and perform.”

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Wallace also explained how NASCAR approached him and asked if he was serious about holding such an event. Later on, both Wallace and NASCAR came together to brainstorm these ideas, and they held an event at Richmond. He later reckoned that the outcome of the event was “really cool”. He then thanked his team and the folks at NASCAR for helping him to turn it into reality.

“Then we went to Birmingham, and it was even better and going into those moments, it’s like, I think of okay, what needs to be different, what needs to what do we need to continue to improve on. And we’ve reached some conclusion on things, but the biggest thing that you leave there with is like, okay, we had 2500-3,000 people at these events having a blast. Getting to, you know, just enjoy themselves and learn a little bit about NASCAR…”

Bubba Wallace reveals how he plans to bring crowds to the racetrack

The 23XI driver further stated how he planned to get his block party attendees to take a look at NASCAR and show some appreciation towards the sport. He believed by doing so, he would attract a new audience slowly toward the sport.

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Wallace continued to explain, “How do we get that crowd to the racetrack? I think that is the end goal. like, okay, you guys are here. We put on this show for you guys. We’re having a great time. You guys are coming out to support it. Okay. Now let’s get you guys. To support what I do.”

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“Let’s come cheer me on, you know, buy a ticket, go buy some merchandise with track and enjoy the show. I think that is the barrier that we have to break through and how we do that. Everybody that I asked that question, too, was like, That’s a great question. So we just have to continue to implement and push and push to be better and do bigger things.”

This initiative by Wallace is a significant step in getting in newer fans into the sport. Especially since in recent years, the fan base of NASCAR has seen a dip. His efforts might only feed a few people. However, such initiatives with support from NASCAR can lead the way in making the sport more interactive. And lead in younger audiences who have of late lost touch with America’s greatest motorsport.

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Watch This Story: $190+ Billion Valued Bubba Wallace Sponsor, Under Fire After Kyle Larson Incident, Was Refuge Spot For Ross Chastain During 2021 Daytona 500

If not Wallace, maybe a Kyle Busch Rowdy energy-sponsored event, or perhaps even something from Chase Elliott. The possibilities are endless. But only small steps like these will make the sport reach back to its former golden days.

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Written by:

Srijan Mandal

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Srijan Mandal is a NASCAR author at EssentiallySports. He is currently pursuing his Master’s in Journalism and has been writing for his own blog as well, covering NASCAR, F1, F2, W Series, MotoGP, DTM, IndyCar, WRC, and WEC. Following motorsports for more than a decade, he has become a devout supporter of McLaren Racing, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Bubba Wallace, Sir Lewis Hamilton, and Ayrton Senna.
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Edited by:

Akash Pandhare