Bubba Wallace finished 31st in Sunday’s NASCAR Chicago Street race, a disappointing end to an otherwise good week. However, with all due respect to the inaugural race, Wallace’s participation in activities off the track last week played a crucial role in attracting new fans and viewers.
“Bubba is an incredible ambassador for us,” said NASCAR’s Chief Operating Officer Steve O’Donnell after Sunday’s race. “It started with Bubba’s Block Party. We got over 4000 people who may have never been to a race who hopefully came out today.”
“We want to grow the sport,” O’Donnell said.
“We’re big believers that when people can come out and sample the sport, they’re gonna to be fans for life. We want everyone in America to come out and be a fan of NASCAR.”
As the lone Black driver competing in NASCAR’s top racing series, the 29-year-old Wallace has become his sport’s ambassador — a fact that is well documented. Like Tiger Woods for golf and the Williams sisters for tennis, he has become an entry point for people of color gravitating toward NASCAR.
Nowhere was this more evident than at Bubba’s Block Party event at the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center on the Southside of Chicago.
The event drew many Black attendees who were either hardcore or casual fans. But it also attracted people who had heard about the free event and were curious about NASCAR.
People of all ages attended and participated in numerous activities, from the driving simulators to selfies with Wallace’s No. 23 car. Chicago Hip-hop artist Lupe Fiasco performed. But as he roamed the grounds, numerous people stopped him for selfies and autographs, and he graciously obliged nearly every request.
To some, Wallace is a polarizing figure, especially to those who identify with the sport’s roots and want it to remain that way.
“I think NASCAR’s tradition is certainly Southern, White, disconnected from places like Chicago,” said Allen Linton II, a Black fan who attended Bubba’s Block Party and the Chicago Street Race.
“Bubba’s presence not only represents greater access for people that are interested in NASCAR that look like me — and a lot of other people in Chicago — but a move for the sport as a whole, to broaden its horizons to really match the changing tide of the country.”
As for Sunday’s culminating Chicago Street Race, the competition attracted viewers who may have yet to tune into a NASCAR race in previous years.
Citing Nielsen data, NBC Sports announced that race coverage on NBC and its Peacock streaming service averaged 4.795 million viewers.
Those numbers made the Chicago Street Race the most-watched NASCAR Cup Series event in six years — even with a rain delay and a shortened race.
‘Look at Bubba Now’
But on the ground, even a relentless downpour that produced record rainfall could not dampen the spirits of fans, many of whom wore ponchos and trod through puddles to cheer their favorite drivers.
For some Black fans who attended or watched, their choice of favorite driver was clear.
“I have to say, Bubba Wallace,” said Thomas Henry, a Black NASCAR fan who traveled from Dover, Delaware, to see the Chicago Street Race.
Before the start of the race, Henry recalled seeing Wallace compete back in Dover years ago and expressed his excitement about his immediate future.
“Look at Bubba now. He’s in good equipment, driving for a great team. He’s up there. And he’s already won races,” said Henry, “He proved that he belonged.”
That wasn’t the case on Saturday, according to Chicago Street Race results.
Wallace, who doesn’t have a stellar track record on road courses, finished 31st out of 37 drivers. Toward the end of the street race, his No. 23 car collided into the one driven by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., drawing a caution.
CAUTION!
We'll have #NASCAROvertime in Chicago! pic.twitter.com/TzuufHk8Aa
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 3, 2023
Despite Sunday’s result, Wallace is 15th in the NASCAR Cup Series Standings, putting him in range of making the playoffs with several races left in the season.
If Wallace makes the playoffs, he would be the first African-American driver ever to do so.
According to one longtime Black motorsports fan, if Wallace were to win the Championship as a NASCAR Cup Series driver, it would cement his legacy.
Wallace has had his detractors and has been subjected to racism. But a playoff berth and a championship would erase all that, according to Fred O’Neal, who planned to attend the event in-person but stayed home to watch because of the weather.
“If he wins a championship, that transcends NASCAR,” O’Neal said. “You put him in the top sports figures if he wins a championship, and if he wins multiple championships, that puts him as one of the greatest sports athletes of all time.”
Though Wallace didn’t win on Sunday, more significant victories appear within reach.
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