Bubba Wallace

For the Canadian Football League player, see Darrell Wallace.

Bubba Wallace
Wallace at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2024
Born	William Darrell Wallace Jr. (1993-10-08) October 8, 1993 Mobile, Alabama, U.S.
Achievements	Highest finishing African-American in the Daytona 500 (2nd, 2018 and 2022) 2017 U.S. Short Track Nationals Super Late Model 100 Winner (inaugural race) First African-American to win in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (Martinsville, 2014)
Awards	2010 K&N Pro Series East Rookie of the Year 2008 UARA-Stars Late Model Series Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Cup Series career
247 races run over 8 years
Car no., team	No. 23 (23XI Racing)
2024 position	18th
Best finish	10th (2023)
First race	2017 Axalta presents the Pocono 400 (Pocono)
Last race	2024 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race (Phoenix)
First win	2021 YellaWood 500 (Talladega)
Last win	2022 Hollywood Casino 400 (Kansas)
Wins Top tens Poles 2 45 3
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
88 races run over 7 years
2022 position	105th
Best finish	7th (2015)
First race	2012 Pioneer Hi-Bred 250 (Iowa)
Last race	2022 Pennzoil 150 (Indianapolis G.P.)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 36 2
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
51 races run over 7 years
2023 position	94th
Best finish	3rd (2014)
First race	2013 NextEra Energy Resources 250 (Daytona)
Last race	2023 Tyson 250 (North Wilkesboro)
First win	2013 Kroger 200 (Martinsville)
Last win	2017 LTi Printing 200 (Michigan)
Wins Top tens Poles 6 30 3
ARCA Menards Series career
1 race run over 1 year
Best finish	137th (2013)
First race	2013 Lucas Oil 200 (Daytona)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0
ARCA Menards Series East career
37 races run over 4 years
Best finish	2nd (2011)
First race	2010 Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150 (Greenville-Pickens)
Last race	2018 Great Outdoors RV Superstore 100 (Watkins Glen)
First win	2010 Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150 (Greenville-Pickens)
Last win	2012 Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150 (Greenville-Pickens)
Wins Top tens Poles 6 26 4
Statistics current as of November 5, 2023.

William Darrell "Bubba" Wallace Jr. (born October 8, 1993) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 23 Toyota Camry XSE for 23XI Racing.

Wallace was previously a development driver in Toyota's driver development program where he drove part-time for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity Series and full-time for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Camping World Truck Series. He then moved over to Ford and their driver development program and competed full-time for Roush Fenway Racing in the Xfinity Series. After competing in select Cup Series races for Richard Petty Motorsports in their famous No. 43 as an injury replacement for Aric Almirola, Wallace became a full-time driver for RPM in the same car when Almirola left the team, which was his first full-time ride in the Cup Series.

Wallace has been the only full-time African American driver in NASCAR's three national series (Cup, Xfinity, and Truck) each year he has competed in them.

Racing career

Early career

Wallace started racing in the Bandolero and Legends car racing series, as well as local late model events, at the age of nine. In 2005, he won 35 of the Bandolero Series' 48 races held that year; in 2008 he became the youngest driver to win at Franklin County Speedway in Virginia.

NASCAR K&N Pro Series/Drive for Diversity

Wallace with a member of the U.S. Army, the sponsor of his East Series car in 2011, at Richmond that year.

Wallace (No. 18) starting from the pole at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in 2012. Starting alongside him is the car he drove the prior year, the Rev Racing No. 6, now driven by Kyle Larson.

In 2010, Wallace began competing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, a regional and developmental series. Wallace drove for Rev Racing as part of NASCAR's Drive for Diversity program, and was signed as a development driver for Joe Gibbs Racing. He won his very first race in the series, at Greenville-Pickens Speedway, becoming the youngest driver ever to win at the track, he was also the youngest, which began as the Busch North Series in 1987. He also won later in the year at Lee USA Speedway in New Hampshire, on his way to finishing third in series points and winning the series' Rookie of the Year award. He was the first African American to win the Rookie of the Year award in a NASCAR series. Wallace's 2011 season would see him winning three times, at Richmond International Raceway, Columbus Motor Speedway, and Dover International Speedway, and he finished second in points to Max Gresham.

Wallace moved to race directly for Joe Gibbs Racing for the 2012 season. Racing the entire K&N East Series season along with four to six selected races in the Nationwide Series, Wallace won the second East event of the year at Greenville-Pickens Speedway, his first win with JGR.

In 2018, Wallace returned to K&N East at Watkins Glen driving the No. 27 Chevrolet for Jefferson Pitts Racing to provide him with extra road course seat time before the Cup Series race later that weekend.

Xfinity Series

2012

Wallace made his national series debut in the Xfinity Series in late May, driving the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota for JGR at Iowa Speedway; he ran in the top ten for most of the event, finishing 9th. After posting further top ten finishes in his next two starts in the series, Wallace won his first career Nationwide Series pole at Dover International Speedway in late September.

2014

In 2014, he returned to the Nationwide Series for Joe Gibbs Racing in the No. 20, starting in May at Talladega Superspeedway where he would finish 34th after being involved in The Big One while running 13th. He ran only one more Nationwide race that year, at Daytona in July with Coca-Cola's "Share a Coke" campaign sponsoring where he would finish a strong 7th.

2015

Wallace (right) with the Sunoco Rookie of the Race Award at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2015

Wallace's No. 6 at Road America in 2015

Following the 2014 season, it was expected that Wallace would move up to the Xfinity Series with Joe Gibbs Racing in a full-time ride, with the owner Joe Gibbs claiming they would have "a big program" for the young driver. After the team struggled to find sponsorship for more than 15 races, on December 8, 2014, Wallace announced he had been granted his request to leave JGR and seek other opportunities. Later, it was reported he had signed a deal to compete in the Xfinity Series for Roush Fenway Racing for 2015 with Chad Norris as his crew chief. On December 18, 2014, RFR officially announced that they had signed Wallace to compete full-time in the No. 6 Ford Mustang in 2015, with sponsors and crew members to be announced at a later date. On January 28, 2015, at NASCAR Media Day, it was announced that Wallace would drive the No. 6 Ford EcoBoost Mustang. Wallace started the season with a 12th-place finish at Daytona and earned 14 top-tens to finish 7th in the final point standings. He was beaten by Daniel Suárez for Rookie of the Year by a single top-ten finish.

2016

Wallace's No. 6 at Road America in 2016

Wallace finished 6th in the season opener at Daytona. He got his first top 3 of the season at California Speedway, in which he claimed 3rd after a dramatic final lap saw long time leader Kyle Busch blow a tyre giving the lead to Daniel Suarez temporarily as he would then run out of fuel just after passing Busch which then gave Busch back the lead, who was ultimately overtaken by Austin Dillon who would go onto win and Wallace would overtake Suarez, matching his career best finish, at the time, of 3rd. Wallace then earned his best career finish at Dover International Speedway finishing 2nd to the dominant Erik Jones but at the end of the season dropped to 11th overall in the points. Wallace did make the inaugural Xfinity Series chase and made it to the round of 8 before being eliminated after the penultimate race at Phoenix.

2017

Wallace's No. 6 at Pocono in 2017; it was the last race for the car before it had to be closed down due to lack of sponsorship.

After finishing 33rd in the season-opening race at Daytona, Wallace finished in sixth place five consecutive times. However, at Bristol, Wallace struggled. After starting from last, Wallace was trapped a lap down throughout the race, eventually getting caught up in a late crash. Wallace would finish the race in 33rd. At Charlotte, Wallace would run upfront for a majority of the race, even leading for 3 laps, but a late-race pit stop relegated him behind the top ten. Wallace got loose and hit the wall with a few laps to go costing him a top ten and finishing 28th. However, despite being fourth in the Drivers' Championship standings, Roush Fenway announced that they would be suspending operations of Wallace's Xfinity Series team following the Pocono race weekend due to sponsorship issues.

Wallace signed with Biagi-DenBeste Racing to drive the No. 98 Ford at Chicagoland Speedway where he would score a 10th-place finish.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

2013

Wallace on pit road at Rockingham in 2013

In February 2013, it was announced that Wallace would run a full season in the Camping World Truck Series in the No. 54 Toyota owned by Kyle Busch Motorsports. At Rockingham Speedway in April Wallace, following accidental contact with Ron Hornaday Jr., was turned by Hornaday under a caution flag, his truck hitting the outside wall. Hornaday was penalized for the contact by being sent to the rear of the field; after the race, Hornaday was penalized 25 championship points and assessed a $25,000 fine, in addition to being placed on probation for the remainder of the season. The situation was compared to an incident at the 2011 WinStar World Casino 350K where Kyle Busch deliberately wrecked Hornaday at Texas Motor Speedway.

On October 26, 2013, Wallace became the first African-American driver to win in one of NASCAR's national series since 1963, winning the Camping World Truck Series Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway. The only previous win by an African-American driver was by Wendell Scott in the Grand National Division on December 1, 1963. Wallace finished 8th in points in his rookie season.

2014

In 2014, Wallace returned to the Camping World Truck Series full-time in the No. 54. In June, Wallace won the Drivin' for Linemen 200 at Gateway Motorsports Park. Three weeks later, he battled Kyle Larson and Ron Hornaday Jr. for the win at Eldora Speedway. Wallace held off a hard charging Larson, who wrecked his car trying to catch him, and beat Hornaday by a 5.489-second margin to win the second annual Mudsummer Classic. Wallace switched to the No. 34 for the Kroger 200 at Martinsville in tribute to Wendell Scott, and led the most laps en route to his second straight victory in the race. Wallace won his final race with KBM, the season finale at Homestead Miami Speedway, beating Larson again to earn his first non-short track victory. Wallace's four wins along with nine top fives and 14 top tens led to a third-place finish in points.

2017

Wallace returned to the Camping World Truck Series at Michigan in August, driving the No. 99 Truck for MDM Motorsports, and ended up winning the race, holding off Christopher Bell and Kyle Busch who rounded out the top three. However, Wallace's truck was discovered to have had illegal vent holes, resulting in an L1-level penalty that suspended crew chief Shane Huffman for one race and penalized the No. 99 team ten points.

2018

In May, Wallace once again returned to the Truck Series, driving the No. 20 for Young's Motorsports at Kansas. He finished 14th after running out of fuel from 5th with 4 laps to go.

2019

Wallace substituting for Austin Wayne Self in the AM Racing No. 22 at Martinsville in March 2019

In March, Wallace returned to the Truck Series for the TruNorth Global 250 at Martinsville and Vankor 350 at Texas, driving the No. 22 for AM Racing. He filled in for the team's driver/owner, Austin Wayne Self, following his suspension. Wallace would finish 10th and 20th, respectively, in these two races. Self would then be reinstated before the next race (at Dover) and he returned to his truck.

2021

In March 2021, Wallace joined Spencer Davis Motorsports to drive their No. 11 in the Pinty's Dirt Truck Race on Bristol Motor Speedway's dirt layout. For this race, the truck was fielded in a partnership with Hattori Racing Enterprises. He finished 11th in the race.

NASCAR Cup Series

2017

Wallace driving through the garage at his Cup Series debut race of Pocono in June 2017

On June 5, 2017, Richard Petty Motorsports announced plans to have Wallace drive the team's No. 43 Ford in place of injured Aric Almirola, making Wallace the first African-American to race in the Cup Series since Bill Lester in 2006. In qualifying for his Cup debut at the Pocono 400, he was able to advance to the second round and start 16th. During the race, Wallace suffered from speeding penalties on pit road, including one while he was serving an earlier pass-through penalty; at one point, he nearly missed his pit stall because he looked for his Xfinity pit sign instead of the No. 43. He went on to finish 26th and one lap down. After congratulating Ryan Blaney in Victory Lane, Wallace passed out and required medical attention. He later stated, "This is the third time this is happened. I get so pissed off at myself that I just pass out."

Wallace earned a finish of 11th at Kentucky after being involved in a last-lap wreck.

2018

Wallace's No. 43 at Sonoma Raceway in 2018

After Aric Almirola announced his departure from Richard Petty Motorsports, team owner Richard Petty announced in an interview that he and the team were working on hiring Wallace as the new driver of the No. 43 in 2018. Wallace was officially introduced to the team as their new driver on October 25, 2017. He is the first African-American driver to have a full-time Cup ride since Wendell Scott in 1971.

Prior to the season-opening Daytona 500, Wallace received support from National Baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron and Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton. He drove the No. 43 Chevrolet Camaro to finish second behind Austin Dillon, the highest finish by a full-time rookie driver in race history, after beating Denny Hamlin to the start/finish line by .002 seconds. Wallace, however, scored only two additional top-10 finishes at the spring Texas race and the fall Phoenix race. He finished 28th place in the final point standings.

In October 2018, Wallace was named in Ebony magazine's Power 100 list, joining the ranks of Stephen Curry, Antonio Brown, Venus Williams and former president and First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama.

2019

Wallace's No. 43 during the race at Dover in October 2019

Despite continuing to have mediocre finishes in the 2019 season, Wallace displayed his full potential with RPM at the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race by winning the second stage of the Monster Energy Open and finishing fifth in the All-Star Race. His other highlight of the early-to-mid summer was at Watkins Glen, when he spun Kyle Busch off the track on lap 61.

At the Brickyard 400, Wallace had one of the best runs of his career by finishing third after running top 10 all day long. He continued to show improvements to his finishes during the season, notably at Richmond, where he started 37th and finished 12th.

At the Charlotte Roval, Wallace finished 24th after Alex Bowman spun him out on lap 42 after Wallace gave Bowman the middle finger gesture on several laps. Wallace retaliated after the race by splashing water on Bowman's face. NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O'Donnell said on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio that officials plan to have a conversation with Wallace about the altercation. On October 5, 2019, Wallace apologized to Jeff Gordon, AMR NASCAR Safety medical director Dr. Angela Fiege, and Hendrick Motorsports executive Jeff Andrews for getting them splashed during the incident, but stated that he does not regret what he did to Bowman.

On November 9, 2019, Wallace was fined $50,000 and docked 50 points for intentionally manipulating competition at Texas when he spun his car on the track after experiencing a tire failure. He once again finished 28th in the final points standings.

2020

Wallace after climbing out of his No. 43 car following his crash with Michael McDowell in the All-Star Open

For the 2020 season, Wallace was reunited with crew chief Jerry Baxter, who worked with him in the Truck Series. In the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas, Wallace finished sixth for his best finish on a 1.5-mile track. When the season was halted after four races due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he was 18th in points.

During the stoppage, he participated in the NASCAR-sanctioned eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series, where he made headlines at the sim racing league's Bristol event for quitting early by choice after wrecking on the 11th lap. Wallace responded to fan criticism by mocking how easily they got offended over a video game. In response, his main sponsor Blue-Emu dropped its sponsorship of the virtual No. 43 car. Blue-Emu executive vice president Ben Blessing said that Wallace's outburst would have been unacceptable during a physical race. As Blessing saw it, Wallace's outburst was not the act of a NASCAR driver, but of "someone like my 13-year-old son who broke his controller playing some game where he builds houses." Later in the Pro Invitational season, after initially posting a tweet seeking a spotter for the event at Talladega, Wallace announced that he would "opt-out," stating that practicing for the iRacing events was too difficult: "I simply get burnt out after a day. Not the games fault, just been like that for years."

Wallace scored a second top ten in the Supermarket Heroes 500 at Bristol after starting 36th. Further top tens came in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis and FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan with ninth-place finishes in both. In the regular season-ending Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona, he recorded a fifth-place finish despite being involved in a late-race wreck.

On September 10, 2020, Wallace announced he would leave RPM at the end of the 2020 season. He finished 22nd in the points standings.

2021: 23XI racing and first career win

Wallace (No. 23) racing alongside Austin Dillon (No. 3) in Bluegreen Vacations Duel #2, which they would finish 1–2 in.

On September 21, 2020, Michael Jordan announced he and NASCAR veteran Denny Hamlin had created a NASCAR team, named 23XI Racing with Wallace serving as the first driver in the No. 23. Wallace was replaced by Ty Dillon in the 2021 Busch Clash as Wallace was not eligible to compete in the race. After qualifying fourth for the Daytona 500, he finished second in his Bluegreen Vacations Duel to Austin Dillon. He was classified 17th in the Daytona 500 after being involved in a fiery last-lap wreck. Wallace scored a second-place finish at the August Daytona Race. He originally placed third, but due to a post-race car inspection failure on the No. 17 car of Chris Buescher, his result was increased to second, equaling his best ever Cup Series result at the 2018 Daytona 500. On October 4, 2021, Wallace earned his first career Cup win at Talladega after the race was shortened due to rain. Wallace is the first African-American driver to win a Cup Series race since Wendell Scott in 1963. Wallace also scored the first win for a McDonald's-sponsored car since Jimmy Spencer in 1994.

2022: Second career win and race suspension

Wallace's No. 23 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2022

Wallace continued with 23XI Racing alongside new teammate Kurt Busch. He raced at the 2022 Daytona 500 with a full McDonald's sponsored paint scheme, finishing runner-up to Austin Cindric by 0.036 seconds. Wallace was in contention late in the race at Atlanta, but would finish 13th after being involved in a wreck on the last lap. On March 29, 2022, crew chief Bootie Barker was suspended for four races due to a tire and wheel loss during the 2022 Texas Grand Prix at COTA. Dave Rogers was announced as Wallace's crew chief for Richmond, Martinsville, Bristol, and Talladega. At Michigan, Wallace won his first career pole and finished second to Kevin Harvick. Following the final regular season race at Daytona Wallace, in a must-win situation, failed to qualify for the Playoffs. However, on August 31, 2022, it was announced that Bubba, along with crew chief Barker, would switch rides at 23XI for the remainder of the season, as they move over to the No. 45 car as it seeks the owner's championship. On September 11, Wallace scored his second win at Kansas after leading the final 67 laps and holding off Hamlin. At Las Vegas, Kyle Larson charged aggressively past Kevin Harvick and Wallace, causing Wallace to scrape the outside wall. Wallace retaliated with a right rear hook on Larson, wrecking both cars down the frontstretch and severely damaging Christopher Bell's car in the process. During the caution, Wallace engaged in a shoving match with Larson. Wallace was suspended for one race for the incident; John Hunter Nemechek was assigned to drive the No. 45 at Homestead. He ended the campaign 19th in the drivers' standings.

2023: Making the playoffs

Wallace's No. 23 car at Dover Motor Speedway in 2023

Wallace started the 2023 season with a 20th-place finish at the 2023 Daytona 500. He improved his finishes enough to make the playoffs for the first time in his career. Although improving in overall points, achieving 5 top 5 finishes, and 10 top10 finishes, 2023 was the first winless season for Wallace since his first win at Talladega in 2021. Wallace advanced to the Round of 12 following the Bristol night race after Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick were eliminated due to issues late in the race. He was eliminated from the Round of 12 at the conclusion of the Charlotte Roval race.

2024: Playoff Challenges Winless Season and Crew Changes

Bubba Wallace had an impressive start to 2024 achieving two fifth-place finishes in the first two races of the season. However, following a 35th-place finish at Las Vegas, Wallace struggled to regain competitiveness for the next five races until a fourth-place finish at Martinsville Since Martinsville, Wallace has finished three times in the top 10 at Texas, Darlington, and Nashville. At the Chicago Street Race on July 7, Wallace was involved in a spin after he got turned by Alex Bowman, who would later go on to win that very same race. After the race, Wallace intentionally collided with Bowman's car during the cool-down lap. Per NASCAR, Wallace, "driver of the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota, was fined $50,000 for violating Sections 4.4.B & D: NASCAR Member Code of Conduct, and finished the race in 13th and currently sits 17th in the playoff standings, 45 points underneath the elimination line for the 16-driver field." Despite scoring decent finishes during the regular season, Wallace failed to make the playoffs after Chase Briscoe won at Darlington. Following the Martinsville playoff race, the No. 23 was docked 50 owner and driver points and Wallace and the team were each fined US$100,000 for race manipulation, when Wallace faked a tire failure and slowed down to allow fellow Toyota driver Christopher Bell to pass him in an attempt to make the Championship 4. In addition, Barker was suspended for the Phoenix finale. Despite a promising early season, Bubba Wallace finished the 2024 NASCAR season in 18th place overall with no wins, and six top-ten finishes while accumulating 878 points. This represents Bubba's second best overall finish in the NASCAR Cup Series. On October 30, 23XI Racing announced that Bootie Barker, the 23 team's crew chief since 2021, would move to another position within the organization and that Charles Denike, who comes from the Truck Series, would be Wallace’s crew chief in 2025.

Noose investigation

On June 21, 2020, a member of Wallace's team reported to NASCAR that a noose had been placed in Wallace's garage stall at Talladega Superspeedway, which NASCAR president Steve Phelps relayed to Wallace in the evening. The organization condemned the act as "heinous" and said they would consult with law enforcement. Wallace stated that he was "incredibly saddened" by the "painful reminder of how much further we have to go as a society and how persistent we must be in the fight against racism," but also praising his fellow drivers that are "driving real change and championing a community that is accepting and welcoming of everyone." Before the GEICO 500 race the next day, the drivers and crews pushed Wallace's car to the front of pit road in a show of solidarity, a gesture that drivers Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick proposed.

A day after the race, an investigation by the FBI concluded that Wallace was not the victim of a hate crime: the alleged noose was a pull-down rope with a loop, in the style of a hangman's knot, that was located on an overhead door, and had been in the garage since the fall Talladega race in 2019. The FBI's determination led to people criticizing Wallace on social media as fake and questioning his integrity. Wallace stated in interviews that although he was relieved that he was not specifically targeted, he was frustrated by the backlash he received. He nonetheless vowed not to let the incident or the subsequent "hoax" allegations "break" him. He added that regardless of "whether [it was] tied in 2019" or "wasn't directed at me... somebody tied a noose."

Wallace with U.S. President Donald Trump at the 2020 Daytona 500, who would later criticize Wallace in a tweet on July 6 of that year

On June 25, 2020, NASCAR released a photo of the noose taken by security. In a teleconference later that day, Phelps explained NASCAR had inspected every garage at the sanctioning body's 29 tracks, with 11 garages containing pull-down ropes tied in knots but only Wallace's being tied into a noose. Although the individual responsible was not identified, Phelps announced that NASCAR would require sensitivity and unconscious bias training for its personnel and that "Bubba Wallace and the 43 team had nothing to do with this."

Two weeks after the GEICO 500, on July 6, 2020, President Donald Trump tweeted that Wallace should apologize for the investigation, branding it a hoax while adding it and NASCAR's Confederate flag ban "has caused lowest ratings EVER!" Trump's ratings claim was refuted by Fox Sports executive vice president Michael Mulvihill, who said the ratings had increased by eight percent since the 2020 season resumed in May, while Wallace received support from figures like Johnson, driver Tyler Reddick, and basketball player LeBron James.

Activism

Philanthropy

Wallace founded and runs the Live to be Different Foundation. He was also the National Motorsports Press Association's Pocono Spirit Award winner for the second quarter of 2020, and the recipient of the Comcast Community Champion of the Year award for 2020.

Black Lives Matter

In May 2020, after the murder of George Floyd by Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis, Wallace began to speak out about the abuse of African Americans by the police, becoming the face of stock car racing's involvement in the Black Lives Matter movement. On June 8, 2020, he called on NASCAR to prohibit displays of the Confederate battle flag at NASCAR races. In 2015, after the publication of photographs showing the white man who killed nine black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, posing with the flag, the organization began asking fans not to display the flag at its races. However, many fans in the South continued to hoist the Confederate flag at races. On June 10, 2020, NASCAR officially banned the display of the flag at its events.

In the 2020 Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 NASCAR race at Martinsville Speedway, Wallace's car had a special paint scheme to honor Black Lives Matter when no other sponsor could be found for that race. The car featured an illustration of black and white hands interlocking together on the hood of the car, the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on the side, and the phrase "Compassion, Love, Understanding" on both the hood and the back bumper. Richard Petty, owner of Richard Petty Motorsports, contributed to the livery by adding a peace symbol on the rear quarter-panel of the car that features hands of all colors circling inside the peace symbol. The livery was made after Richard Petty Motorsports failed to secure a primary sponsorship for the race. The team later suggested the idea to Wallace to run an all-black car to honor the movement. Wallace finished 11th after securing top-ten finishes in both stages, his career-best at Martinsville in the Cup Series.

Personal life

Wallace was born in Mobile, Alabama, and raised in Concord, North Carolina.

Born to a black mother and a white father, Wallace is the son of Darrell Wallace Sr. and Desiree Wallace. His father is the owner of an industrial cleaning company, and his mother is a social worker who ran track at the University of Tennessee.

Wallace is best friends with fellow NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney. The two first met when they raced Bandoleros in their youth.

In 2019, Wallace revealed that he dealt with and continues to deal with depression for most of his racing career. After others reached out to him to thank him for bringing awareness to depression, Wallace said he did not know it was such a widespread problem; for him, being depressed was an honest answer to a media question.

On July 23, 2019, Wallace posted photos of Richard Petty autographing his left forearm. He vowed to have Petty's signature tattooed if the photos were retweeted 43,000 times. The goal was made by the morning of July 25. Less than a month later, Wallace had Petty's signature tattooed on the back of his right thigh.

Wallace married Amanda Carter on December 31, 2022. The two became engaged on July 30, 2021.

Wallace is a Christian. In an interview with Esquire in 2020, Wallace clarified that his criticism of Michael McDowell after an incident at that year's All-Star Race was not meant as an attack on McDowell's Christian faith as some had perceived. "A lot of people took that as attacking his faith and it definitely wasn't that. I have nothing against that. I'm a Christian myself. When you go disrespectful, then that shows the character that you are. That's what I was getting at." Wallace's wrecked front bumper from the incident was put up for auction and raised $20,034 for the Christian non-profit organization Motor Racing Outreach.

On September 29, 2024, while Bubba was racing in Kansas, his wife Amanda gave birth to a son, Becks Hayden.

In media

In 2017, Wallace voiced the character Bubba Wheelhouse in the 2017 Pixar film Cars 3.

Leading up to the 2018 Daytona 500, he starred in the Facebook Watch series Behind the Wall: Bubba Wallace.

Wallace and 23XI co-owner Denny Hamlin appear in the music video for Post Malone's 2021 song "Motley Crew".

In 2021, Wallace participated virtually in the 2021 Pro Bowl after the event was cancelled and hosted on Madden NFL 21.

In 2022, he was the subject of the Netflix docu-series Race: Bubba Wallace. The six-episode series follows Wallace's career during the 2020 and 2021 seasons, including his off-track life and activism.

Motorsports career results

Stock car career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Points	Position
2010	NASCAR K&N Pro Series East	Rev Racing	10	2	5	7	1467	3rd
2011	NASCAR K&N Pro Series East	Rev Racing	12	3	5	11	1871	2nd
2012	NASCAR Nationwide Series	Joe Gibbs Racing	4	0	0	3	139	36th
	NASCAR K&N Pro Series East		14	1	6	7	470	7th
2013	NASCAR Truck Series	Kyle Busch Motorsports	22	1	5	12	704	8th
	ARCA Racing Series	Venturini Motorsports	1	0	0	0	55	137th
2014	NASCAR Nationwide Series	Joe Gibbs Racing	2	0	0	1	0	NC†
	NASCAR Truck Series	Kyle Busch Motorsports	22	4	9	14	799	3rd
2015	NASCAR Xfinity Series	Roush Fenway Racing	33	0	3	14	1071	7th
2016	NASCAR Xfinity Series	Roush Fenway Racing	33	0	3	9	2163	11th
2017	NASCAR Cup Series	Richard Petty Motorsports	4	0	0	0	0	NC†
	NASCAR Xfinity Series	Roush Fenway Racing	12	0	0	7	348	20th
		Biagi-DenBeste Racing	1	0	0	1
	NASCAR Truck Series	MDM Motorsports	1	1	1	1	0	NC†
2018	NASCAR Cup Series	Richard Petty Motorsports	36	0	1	3	471	28th
	NASCAR Truck Series	Young's Motorsports	1	0	0	0	0	NC†
	NASCAR K&N Pro Series East	Jefferson Pitts Racing	1	0	0	1	38	42nd
2019	NASCAR Cup Series	Richard Petty Motorsports	36	0	1	1	437	28th
	NASCAR Truck Series	AM Racing	2	0	0	1	0	NC†
2020	NASCAR Cup Series	Richard Petty Motorsports	36	0	1	5	597	22nd
2021	NASCAR Cup Series	23XI Racing	36	1	3	3	699	21st
	NASCAR Xfinity Series	Hattori Racing Enterprises	1	0	0	1	0	NC†
	NASCAR Truck Series	Spencer Davis Motorsports	1	0	0	0	0	NC†
2022	NASCAR Cup Series	23XI Racing	35	1	5	10	637	19th
	NASCAR Xfinity Series	Joe Gibbs Racing	2	0	0	0	0	NC†
2023	NASCAR Cup Series	23XI Racing	36	0	5	10	2279	10th
	NASCAR Truck Series	Tricon Garage	2	0	1	2	0	NC†
2024	NASCAR Cup Series	23XI Racing	36	0	6	14	878	18th

^† As Wallace was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Cup Series

NASCAR Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	NCSC	Pts	Ref
2017	Richard Petty Motorsports	43	Ford	DAY	ATL	LVS	PHO	CAL	MAR	TEX	BRI	RCH	TAL	KAN	CLT	DOV	POC 26	MCH 19	SON	DAY 15	KEN 11	NHA	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	CHI	NHA	DOV	CLT	TAL	KAN	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM	50th	01
2018			Chevy	DAY 2	ATL 32	LVS 21	PHO 28	CAL 20	MAR 34	TEX 8	BRI 16	RCH 25	TAL 16	DOV 25	KAN 23	CLT 16	POC 38	MCH 19	SON 29	CHI 23	DAY 14	KEN 27	NHA 24	POC 33	GLN 25	MCH 23	BRI 38	DAR 26	IND 38	LVS 38	RCH 27	ROV 36	DOV 23	TAL 19	KAN 26	MAR 34	TEX 25	PHO 10	HOM 21	28th	471
2019				DAY 38	ATL 27	LVS 26	PHO 22	CAL 30	MAR 17	TEX 23	BRI 20	RCH 27	TAL 39	DOV 27	KAN 29	CLT 25	POC 21	MCH 28	SON 26	CHI 25	DAY 15	KEN 23	NHA 22	POC 22	GLN 28	MCH 27	BRI 14	DAR 24	IND 3	LVS 23	RCH 12	ROV 24	DOV 20	TAL 24	KAN 35	MAR 13	TEX 24	PHO 25	HOM 34	28th	437
2020				DAY 15	LVS 6	CAL 27	PHO 19	DAR 21	DAR 16	CLT 38	CLT 37	BRI 10	ATL 21	MAR 11	HOM 13	TAL 14	POC 22	POC 20	IND 9	KEN 27	TEX 14	KAN 37	NHA 23	MCH 9	MCH 21	DRC 25	DOV 27	DOV 21	DAY 5	DAR 38	RCH 26	BRI 22	LVS 28	TAL 24	ROV 21	KAN 18	TEX 38	MAR 21	PHO 15	22nd	597
2021	23XI Racing	23	Toyota	DAY 17	DRC 26	HOM 22	LVS 28	PHO 16	ATL 16	BRD 27	MAR 16	RCH 26	TAL 19	KAN 26	DAR 21	DOV 11	COA 39	CLT 14	SON 14	NSH 20	POC 14	POC 5	ROA 24	ATL 14	NHA 26	GLN 23	IRC 13	MCH 19	DAY 2	DAR 21	RCH 32	BRI 16	LVS 16	TAL 1	ROV 14	TEX 32	KAN 14	MAR 25	PHO 39	21st	699
2022				DAY 2	CAL 19	LVS 25	PHO 22	ATL 13	COA 38	RCH 26	MAR 16	BRD 28	TAL 17	DOV 16	DAR 27	KAN 10	CLT 28	GTW 26	SON 36	NSH 12	ROA 35	ATL 14	NHA 3	POC 8	IRC 5	MCH 2	RCH 13	GLN 35	DAY 11											19th	637
		45																												DAR 9	KAN 1	BRI 29	TEX 25	TAL 16	ROV 7	LVS 36	HOM	MAR 8	PHO 22
2023		23		DAY 20	CAL 30	LVS 4	PHO 14	ATL 27	COA 37	RCH 22	BRD 12	MAR 9	TAL 28	DOV 12	KAN 4	DAR 5	CLT 4	GTW 30	SON 17	NSH 15	CSC 31	ATL 25	NHA 8	POC 11	RCH 12	MCH 18	IRC 18	GLN 12	DAY 12	DAR 7	KAN 32	BRI 14	TEX 3*	TAL 23	ROV 16	LVS 13	HOM 6	MAR 11	PHO 10	10th	2279
2024				DAY 5	ATL 5	LVS 35	PHO 16	BRI 29	COA 15	RCH 13	MAR 4	TEX 7	TAL 36	DOV 32	KAN 17	DAR 7	CLT 11	GTW 21	SON 20	IOW 17	NHA 34	NSH 7	CSC 13	POC 10	IND 5	RCH 4	MCH 26	DAY 6	DAR 16	ATL 29	GLN 17	BRI 3	KAN 17	TAL 9	ROV 9	LVS 12	HOM 18	MAR 18	PHO 7	18th	878
2025				DAY	ATL	COA	PHO	LVS	HOM	MAR	DAR	BRI	TAL	TEX	KAN	CLT	NSH	MCH	MXC	POC	ATL	CSC	SON	DOV	IND	IOW	GLN	RCH	DAY	DAR	GTW	BRI	NHA	KAN	ROV	LVS	TAL	MAR	PHO	-*	-*

Daytona 500

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
2018	Richard Petty Motorsports	Chevrolet	7	2
2019			13	38
2020			11	15
2021	23XI Racing	Toyota	6	17
2022			16	2
2023			15	20
2024			24	5

Xfinity Series

NASCAR Xfinity Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	NXSC	Pts	Ref
2012	Joe Gibbs Racing	20	Toyota	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	TEX	RCH	TAL	DAR	IOW 9	CLT	DOV	MCH	ROA	KEN	DAY	NHA	CHI	IND	IOW 7	GLN	CGV	BRI	ATL	RCH 10	CHI	KEN	DOV 12	CLT	KAN	TEX	PHO	HOM	36th	139
2014	Joe Gibbs Racing	20	Toyota	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	TEX	DAR	RCH	TAL 31	IOW	CLT	DOV	MCH	ROA	KEN	DAY 7	NHA	CHI	IND	IOW	GLN	MOH	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	KEN	DOV	KAN	CLT	TEX	PHO	HOM	94th	01
2015	Roush Fenway Racing	6	Ford	DAY 12	ATL 11	LVS 7	PHO 15	CAL 12	TEX 6	BRI 12	RCH 12	TAL 20	IOW 6	CLT 5	DOV 17	MCH 15	CHI 10	DAY 34	KEN 7	NHA 8	IND 23	IOW 11	GLN 16	MOH 8	BRI 12	ROA 5	DAR 14	RCH 14	CHI 3	KEN 9	DOV 11	CLT 8	KAN 11	TEX 19	PHO 8	HOM 10	7th	1071
2016				DAY 6	ATL 18	LVS 33	PHO 12	CAL 3	TEX 15	BRI 25	RCH 16	TAL 13	DOV 2	CLT 27	POC 16	MCH 9	IOW 9	DAY 20	KEN 5	NHA 12	IND 14	IOW 27	GLN 29	MOH 15	BRI 7	ROA 9	DAR 17	RCH 12	CHI 20	KEN 8	DOV 11	CLT 20	KAN 33	TEX 11	PHO 32	HOM 11	11th	2163
2017				DAY 33	ATL 6	LVS 6	PHO 6	CAL 6	TEX 6	BRI 33	RCH 6	TAL 13	CLT 28	DOV 8	POC 11	MCH	IOW	DAY	KEN	NHA	IND	IOW	GLN	MOH	BRI	ROA	DAR	RCH									20th	348
	Biagi-DenBeste Racing	98	Ford																										CHI 10	KEN	DOV	CLT	KAN	TEX	PHO	HOM
2021	Hattori Racing Enterprises	61	Toyota	DAY	DRC	HOM	LVS	PHO	ATL	MAR	TAL	DAR	DOV	COA	CLT	MOH	TEX	NSH	POC	ROA	ATL	NHA	GLN	IRC	MCH 10	DAY	DAR	RCH	BRI	LVS	TAL	ROV	TEX	KAN	MAR	PHO	87th	01
2022	Joe Gibbs Racing	18	Toyota	DAY	CAL	LVS	PHO	ATL	COA 28	RCH	MAR	TAL	DOV	DAR	TEX	CLT	PIR	NSH	ROA	ATL	NHA	POC	IRC 35	MCH	GLN	DAY	DAR	KAN	BRI	TEX	TAL	ROV	LVS	HOM	MAR	PHO	105th	01

Craftsman Truck Series

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	NCTC	Pts	Ref
2013	Kyle Busch Motorsports	54	Toyota	DAY 12	MAR 5	CAR 27	KAN 7	CLT 27	DOV 10	TEX 6	KEN 28	IOW 8	ELD 7	POC 7	MCH 21	BRI 28	MSP 4	IOW 5	CHI 11	LVS 5	TAL 17	MAR 1*	TEX 7	PHO 20	HOM 15		8th	704
2014				DAY 26	MAR 2	KAN 15	CLT 26	DOV 16	TEX 10	GTW 1*	KEN 2	IOW 13	ELD 1*	POC 8	MCH 11*	BRI 2	MSP 12	CHI 6	NHA 2	LVS 2*	TAL 9		TEX 26	PHO 6	HOM 1		3rd	799
		34																				MAR 1*
2017	MDM Motorsports	99	Chevy	DAY	ATL	MAR	KAN	CLT	DOV	TEX	GTW	IOW	KEN	ELD	POC	MCH 1	BRI	MSP	CHI	NHA	LVS	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM	103rd	01
2018	Young's Motorsports	20	Chevy	DAY	ATL	LVS	MAR	DOV	KAN 14	CLT	TEX	IOW	GTW	CHI	KEN	ELD	POC	MCH	BRI	MSP	LVS	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM	101st	01
2019	AM Racing	22	Chevy	DAY	ATL	LVS	MAR 10	TEX 20	DOV	KAN	CLT	TEX	IOW	GTW	CHI	KEN	POC	ELD	MCH	BRI	MSP	LVS	TAL	MAR	PHO	HOM	102nd	01
2021	Spencer Davis Motorsports	11	Toyota	DAY	DRC	LVS	ATL	BRD 11	RCH	KAN	DAR	COA	CLT	TEX	NSH	POC	KNX	GLN	GTW	DAR	BRI	LVS	TAL	MAR	PHO		103rd	01
2022	Halmar Friesen Racing	52	Toyota	DAY	LVS	ATL	COA	MAR	BRD	DAR	KAN QL†	TEX	CLT	GTW	SON	KNX	NSH	MOH	POC	IRP	RCH	KAN	BRI	TAL	HOM	PHO	N/A	–
2023	Tricon Garage	1	Toyota	DAY	LVS	ATL	COA	TEX	BRD	MAR	KAN	DAR 7	NWS 5	CLT	GTW	NSH	MOH	POC	RCH	IRP	MLW	KAN	BRI	TAL	HOM	PHO	94th	01
† – Practiced and qualified for Stewart Friesen

^* Season still in progress
¹ Ineligible for series points

K&N Pro Series East

NASCAR K&N Pro Series East results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	NKNPSEC	Pts	Ref
2010	Rev Racing	6	Chevy	GRE 1	SBO 20		MAR 3	NHA 3	LRP 6	LEE 1	JFC 15	NHA 9	DOV 25					3rd	1467
		76				IOW 3
2011		6	Toyota	GRE 6	SBO 6*	RCH 1	IOW 6	BGS 6	JFC 4	LGY 9	NHA 30	COL 1*	GRE 6	NHA 3	DOV 1			2nd	1871
2012	Joe Gibbs Racing	18	Toyota	BRI 18	GRE 1*	RCH 28	IOW 26	BGS 2	JFC 7	LGY 16	CNB 22	COL 3	IOW 11	NHA 3	DOV 2*	GRE 13	CAR 2	7th	470
2018	Jefferson Pitts Racing	27	Chevy	NSM	BRI	LGY	SBO	SBO	MEM	NJM	TMP	NHA	IOW	GLN 6	GTW	NHA	DOV	42nd	38

ARCA Racing Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Racing Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	ARSC	Pts	Ref
2013	Venturini Motorsports	55	Toyota	DAY 35	MOB	SLM	TAL	TOL	ELK	POC	MCH	ROA	WIN	CHI	NJE	POC	BLN	ISF	MAD	DSF	IOW	SLM	KEN	KAN	137th	55

External links

• Official website
• Official profile at 23XI Racing
• Bubba Wallace driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• Bubba Wallace at IMDb