Home

NASCAR

“People Thought I Was Cheating” – Bubba Wallace Once Opened Up About The Trials Of Being An African-American Driver in NASCAR

Published 10/15/2022, 3:15 PM EDT

Follow Us

via Getty

Bubba Wallace’s life has been a wild ride. Throughout his racing career, he has faced backlash from people for certain things out of his control. But every time he proved his haters wrong, they would come up with something new to show him down. Back in 2015, when Wallace joined Roush Fenway Racing, he narrated his story of how he got to where he is.

During the video, we hear Bubba say, “Growing up, racing was different for me. A lot of people thought I was cheating as if I couldn’t get there on my own. Things were said and gestures were thrown out. But I never let it bother me. I focused and used that negativity to motivate me to work even harder. When I got into NASCAR, I heard people say it was all a political PR play, because I looked different. They said i would never compete with the real drivers. So I went out there in 2013 as a rookie and won one.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

“Then they said, yeah everybody gets lucky, let’s see him win another. So in 2014, I went out and proved em wrong. 4 wins, 9 top 5s, 14 top 10s, and two poles. Of course, I will never forget the people who helped me along the way. Like Kyle Busch Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing. There is nothing more I can say than thank you, as I get older, I have to continue to press forward and prove the doubters wrong. Here is to new beginnings and here’s to making history again.”

Bubba Wallace creating history with two Cup Series wins

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Wallace’s story is of one who persevered through the toughest of times and never gave up. Wallace was able to win once at Talladega Superspeedway back in 2021, and then yet again at Kansas Speedway this year, driving with 23XI Racing.

via Getty

Wallace became the first person of African American descent to go on and win in the Cup Series twice. Cementing himself in the record books for future generations to look up to.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

WATCH THIS STORY: “Won’t Have Sabotaged Engines This Time” – Bubba Wallace & Kyle Busch Win NASCAR Majority in Unofficial 2023 Poll

We are certain with the hunger Wallace has, he wouldn’t settle for only two wins. He will push forward and wrap up more races under his belt. Now only time will tell, what lies ahead and we are sure it will be great. The only thing haters are going to do is continue hating.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Srijan Mandal

1,061Articles

One take at a time

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.
Show More>

Edited by:

Nizamul Haque Bhuyan