Bubba Wallace Wins at Talladega, Becomes First Black Driver to Win Since 1963
Wallace charged to the lead and defended it a few laps before rain fell, ending the race early.
BY FRED SMITH
OCT 4, 2021
SEAN GARDNERGETTY IMAGES
Bubba Wallace made history.
Today's NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega was delayed by rain to Monday afternoon, then cut short by further rains a few hours later. When that final storm came, Bubba Wallace had just charged to the lead of the pack and defended it from a run from Penske Racing's Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski. A short while later, the race was officially called.
It makes Wallace the first Black driver to win in the NASCAR Cup Series since 1963, the year Wendell Scott won at Jacksonville. It is a history Wallace knows all too well; back in 2014, he won a Truck Series race at Martinsville in a Scott tribute livery.
It is the culmination of four years of strong runs on these pack racing superspeedways for Wallace. He has two runner-up finishes on these tracks, both at Daytona, but a Cup win has eluded him. It is his first career Cup Series win of any sort.
It is also the first-ever win for the new-for-2021 23XI Racing team, a venture co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan and current NASCAR front-runner Denny Hamlin. 23XI was founded as a one-car team led by Wallace, but it will expand to two cars when it adds Kurt Busch to the fold next season. Jordan said that the goal this season was to win races; 31 race weekends into the program's history, that goal has been achieved.
Behind Wallace, the lead stories of the race were mid-sized multi-car wrecks within the pack that caught out playoff contenders. Early on, hard contact between William Byron and Justin Allgaier led to Kyle Larson hitting the wall hard. A few laps later, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. caught the rear bumper of the leading Alex Bowman to trigger a crash that would also catch out Martin Truex Jr. and the already-eliminated Tyler Reddick. In what would become the decisive laps, Ryan Preece spun into the field in a crash that would catch out Bowman.
As every playoff contender expected entering Talladega, the crashes leave the playoff standings jumbled. William Byron and Alex Bowman sit a drastic 43 and 51 points off the cutoff line, respectively, and will likely need to win next weekend's race at the Charlotte roval to advance. Christopher Bell sits 33 points back, while Kevin Harvick is just 11 back of 8th-placed Chase Elliott. Harvick simply needs to run well next Sunday, but Bell might need a little luck to advance. Elliott (11 points ahead of Harvick), Kyle Busch (12 points ahead), and Brad Keselowski (15 points ahead) are the drivers in the most immediate danger of falling below the cutoff line for the Round of 8.
But those playoff implications will not be what today is remembered for. This was the day Bubba Wallace became a NASCAR Cup Series winner, a day he has been building to since he started racing at nine years old. It is one of the most meaningful wins in the history of stock car racing.
Wallace charged to the lead and defended it a few laps before rain fell, ending the race early.
BY FRED SMITH
OCT 4, 2021
SEAN GARDNERGETTY IMAGES
Bubba Wallace made history.
Today's NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega was delayed by rain to Monday afternoon, then cut short by further rains a few hours later. When that final storm came, Bubba Wallace had just charged to the lead of the pack and defended it from a run from Penske Racing's Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski. A short while later, the race was officially called.
It makes Wallace the first Black driver to win in the NASCAR Cup Series since 1963, the year Wendell Scott won at Jacksonville. It is a history Wallace knows all too well; back in 2014, he won a Truck Series race at Martinsville in a Scott tribute livery.
It is the culmination of four years of strong runs on these pack racing superspeedways for Wallace. He has two runner-up finishes on these tracks, both at Daytona, but a Cup win has eluded him. It is his first career Cup Series win of any sort.
It is also the first-ever win for the new-for-2021 23XI Racing team, a venture co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan and current NASCAR front-runner Denny Hamlin. 23XI was founded as a one-car team led by Wallace, but it will expand to two cars when it adds Kurt Busch to the fold next season. Jordan said that the goal this season was to win races; 31 race weekends into the program's history, that goal has been achieved.
Behind Wallace, the lead stories of the race were mid-sized multi-car wrecks within the pack that caught out playoff contenders. Early on, hard contact between William Byron and Justin Allgaier led to Kyle Larson hitting the wall hard. A few laps later, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. caught the rear bumper of the leading Alex Bowman to trigger a crash that would also catch out Martin Truex Jr. and the already-eliminated Tyler Reddick. In what would become the decisive laps, Ryan Preece spun into the field in a crash that would catch out Bowman.
As every playoff contender expected entering Talladega, the crashes leave the playoff standings jumbled. William Byron and Alex Bowman sit a drastic 43 and 51 points off the cutoff line, respectively, and will likely need to win next weekend's race at the Charlotte roval to advance. Christopher Bell sits 33 points back, while Kevin Harvick is just 11 back of 8th-placed Chase Elliott. Harvick simply needs to run well next Sunday, but Bell might need a little luck to advance. Elliott (11 points ahead of Harvick), Kyle Busch (12 points ahead), and Brad Keselowski (15 points ahead) are the drivers in the most immediate danger of falling below the cutoff line for the Round of 8.
But those playoff implications will not be what today is remembered for. This was the day Bubba Wallace became a NASCAR Cup Series winner, a day he has been building to since he started racing at nine years old. It is one of the most meaningful wins in the history of stock car racing.
