Sunday, October 26, 2014

Wallace a Winner!

Darrell Wallace, Jr., driver of the #34 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductee
Wendell Scott Toyota, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning
the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Kroger 200 *

Bubba Wallace (Darrell Wallace, Jr. born October 8, 1993 in Mobile, Alabama), is a development driver for Joe Gibbs Racing. He currently competes in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 54 Toyota for Kyle Busch Motorsports. He is third in the point’s standings and well within striking distance, being only twenty-two points behind the series leader. With three races remaining in the season, Bubba leads the series in 2014 wins with three trips to victory lane.

The headlines shriek the news that Bubba won another clock trophy in Martinsville. Wallace led 97 of the 200 laps and started the race from pole.

Wendell Scott **
What makes this win just a tad more notable is the fact that the African-American driver won the Kroger 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in a #34 tribute car to NASCAR Hall of Fame 2015 inductee, Wendell Scott.

Just in case you are not a NASCAR Nut and unaware, Wendell Scott, who died in 1990 was the first of his race to become a full-time competitor in what is now known as the Sprint Cup Series. From the age of thirty-nine to the age of fifty-one, Scott competed in four hundred and ninety-five races.

Wendell Scott’s historic win came on December 1, 1963 at Speedway Park in Jacksonville, Florida. He won the hundred-mile feature race after starting fifteenth.


(L-R) Sybil Scott, Janis Davis, Wendell Scott, Cheryl Ashley and Frank Scott pose
with Darrell Wallace, Jr. (3rdL), driver of the #34 2015 NASCAR
Hall of Fame Inductee Wendell Scott Toyota ***

Of his win yesterday, Wallace exclaimed excitedly, “That was so fun. Martinsville is my favorite place to come to. Without the support of NASCAR and Toyota… the whole Wendell Scott family is here and this is a special moment, just a perfect weekend for us. It's a true honor to have Wendell Scott on our Toyota Tundra and to be able to put it in Victory Lane. I know he (Scott) just said up there, 'Hell yeah.' This is cool."

Darrell Wallace, Jr.’s family has always been there to support him also. His father, Darrell Sr., is Caucasian, and his mother, Desiree, is African American. They have both worked diligently to provide their son opportunities, both financially and emotionally, during his accelerated rise through the NASCAR racing ranks. During that journey, the Wallace family was no stranger to the bigoted views of the small-minded.

When his son was just fourteen years old and running late models in North Carolina, Darrell Sr. heard an official describe his son as "that n----- kid." Wallace Sr., calmly approached the official and asked, "Did you forget my son's name?"

Wallace, Jr. poses with the Keystone Light Pole award ****
While the younger Darrell Wallace doesn’t want to be known as an African-American driver, but he does like the ability to open minds and help NASCAR become more diverse.

When he hosted the NASCAR Instagram account at the 2014 Black Entertainment Television (BET) Awards, Wallace had to field some racist posts. He did so without anger.

“I moved on and enjoyed the show. … Kill them with kindness, that’s all you’ve got to do. There’s no point in calling anybody out; that would be a never-ending process.” Wallace responded.

In previous interviews, Bubba has made it clear that while he accepts the responsibility of being one of the first African-American NASCAR Drivers; he want his legacy to be measure by his driving talent. If you have any doubt about his sincerity and capability of that goal, please re-read the first two paragraphs.

* * * * * * * 

Desiree, Bubba and Darrell Sr.
*****
This writer anxiously awaits the epoch when athletes are no longer describe by their ancestry but by their dedication, heart, and talent.

When that happens, NASCAR Race Mom will still be reporting on Darrell “Bubba” Wallace, Jr.

Darrell Sr. and Desiree Wallace did an awesome job raising a winner.


*Photo Credit: Sarah Glenn/NASCAR via Getty Images
**Photo Credit: nascar.com
***Photo Credit: Brian Lawdermilk/NASCAR via Getty Images
****Photo Credit: Sarah Glenn/NASCAR via Getty Images
*****Photo Credit: Marty Tyler via http://www.catchfence.com

16 comments:

Tjsh35 said...

Whoever wrote this post needs to check their grammar, get a better education or find a different job

Unknown said...

I, for one, appreciate the info. This article was written almost three and a half years ago. Your comment was posted tonight. I expect this person stumbled on it doing a search on Bubba Wallace tonight while watching the duel and not recognizing him. I've read news articles on major news websites with a shocking amount of grammatical mistakes. This is a blog post by a race fan. NASCAR Race Mom, rock on. Thank you for educating more marginal fans like us who don't know some of the info on other racing than the Monster Cup.

NASCAR Race Mom said...

I thank you Tjsh35 for your interest and observations. Yup that would be I whom needs to get a better education. Unfortunately, this is NOT my job so finding a different one proves to be unnecessary.

However, Kim Larsen your comments were truly appreciated. NASCAR is my passion . . . grammar not so much.

By the way, Bubba did very well in the duels pulling off a podium finish.

Unknown said...

GO BUBBA!

Unknown said...

His white

Spirit said...

Uh, really, the point here was to leave the idea of skin-color-deciding-remarks out of it, not make it the point. Thanks for reminding us that goal is still on the far horizon, either in reality or in people's minds. Sadly, especially in NASCAR world, "race" will always have two connotations, as it tends to have in the US. Funny, because Formula One has not only had a four-time World Champion (Lewis Hamilton) who is not only black, but is from a Crown Colony in background (Grenada), but stretching the boundaries even further than NASCAR probably ever will also had a (gasp!) Jewish World Champion. The difference is that they didn't make ANY kind of deal about either. They leave that kind of closed-minded stuff to US..and I won't even get into the Ayrton Senna story.

Anonymous said...

Is Nascar so desperate to promote "diversity" that they refer to Darrell Wallace as African American? He is a bi-racial American, neither all black or all white. Describing any human being as a minority race when one parent is caucasian is as racist as using a slur. Bubba Wallace is an intelligent, articulate human being who looks to be an up and coming driver. There's no need to say anything about color, he's a positive newcomer to the big stage and should develop a following based on his personality and driver skill.

Anonymous said...

Barack Obama is mixed and we consider him the first black president so what are you saying?

Unknown said...

The American Guidelines on nationality and Race is why he is classified as African-American and not bi-racial. Birth Certificates until recent never had a place to identify your self as multi racial. Plus as a rule of thumb before it was a not a option because if you had or looked like a African-American you are considered African-American unless the birth certificate of the mother and father said otherwise. FYI Black is a term that should no longer be used to describe African-Americans as it entails Africans being stripped of the heritage, language and identity from slavery.

crittermomma63 said...

Guess what??? With how the education system is today plus kids with phones, I don't see the spelling to get better. Everything is initials. I use them but I also know how to spell. If I am unsure about a word that doesn't pop up in my corrective text, I will Google it to make sure I have spelled it right.
I could go all day with examples but I am sure that we both cringe and shake our heads reading many comments.
I take frequent breaks from the internet once a month because of how irritated I get.

crittermomma63 said...

What does skin color have to do with racing?

He is biracial. Get over it. He looks to hold plenty of promise to be an excellent driver.

crittermomma63 said...

What about Kyle Larson? NASCAR started trying to be diversified with Kyle.
Do you know what??? Skin color shouldn't be a factor in today's world.
Also do your research. How many gay men have there been in NASCAR???

crittermomma63 said...

I have many black friends. They all preferred to be called black rather than African-American. Their reasoning is because they didn't come from Africa.
It all makes sense to me.

Anonymous said...

How many more generations before racism is bred out. And we see each other as a human being with red blood running through our veins. Oh except for the ones like myself that have the rh factor and have some alien blood as some people say. We are all people with a heart that pumps red blood.

Unknown said...

Erase nascar mom on collections

Shawn Carter said...

Totally agree. I've been saying "I wasn't born in Africa" from day one when the whole African American BS was proposed.