Bubba Wallace opens up on weight of expectations as only Black driver in NASCAR Cup Series

Bubba Wallace knows he has more eyes on him because he is the only Black driver in the NASCAR Cup Series. While appearing on the Stacking Pennies Podcast with Corey LaJoie, Wallace talked about feeling the pressure of being the only Black driver each week.

“There’s way more eyes for sure,” Wallace said. “At times, I’d say the biggest thing I’ve done in this year is ever since 2020, I was always like okay I got to prove to everybody that you know what, I belong here instead of just [being Bubba] and thinking that world is against me and everybody’s out to get me. There may be some, but I don’t need to invest my time into that anymore, you know, trying to prove everybody right.”

“The people that matter, they know what’s right and what’s wrong. I think that’s helped me out a lot. just from the mental side of it,” Wallace continued. “And then showing up to the race track and being more comfortable. I definitely lost touch with who I was for the last couple of years and chasing the wrong thing. You know now that you’ve kind of gotten back to being on the right track, things are starting to click.”

Bubba Wallace spoke out against hate in 2020

Wallace mentioned 2020 because it was when the Black Lives Matter movement reached new heights. During that time, Wallace gained attention for saying he wanted the Confederate flag banned at NASCAR races.

“My next step would be to get rid of all Confederate flags,” Wallace said in an interview with CNN (per PopCulture.com). “No one should feel uncomfortable when they come to a NASCAR race. So it starts with Confederate flags. Get them out of here. They have no place for them.” The Confederate flag has a lot of history since it represented the Southern states in the country including Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Virginia, during the Civil War. Wallace knows that decision won’t sit well with a lot of people because of it being part of the Southern culture for over 140 years.”

“There’s going to be a lot of angry people that carry those flags proudly, but it’s time for change,” he added. “We have to change that, and I encourage NASCAR — we will have those conversations to remove those flags.” 

Wallace is currently one of the top drivers in NASCAR. In 2023, Wallace made the playoffs for the first time in his career and finished 10th in the standings. This season, the 30-year-old is in ninth place and has recorded top-five finishes in the first two races.