Bubba Wallace becomes first African-American to earn NASCAR Cup Series win in 57 years
TALLADEGA, AL — In 1963, Lyndon B. Johnson took over as U.S. President after the death of JFK, The Beatles mounted their U.S. invasion and, on December 1, Wendell Scott earned the only win for an African-American driver in the NASCAR Cup Series.
That is, until October 4, 2021, when Bubba Wallace earned his first career NASCAR Cup Series win in Monday’s rain-shortened YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
Wallace’s first win came in his 143rd NCS race.
Wallace’s win was also the first win for the newly-formed, Michael Jordan-and-Denny Hamlin-owned 23XI Racing, in their 31st NCS race.
Wallace last won August 2017 at Michigan International Speedway in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
Crew chief Bootie Barker also earned his first career NASCAR Cup Series win in his 484th start. Barker won four NASCAR XFINITY Series races with Scott Wimmer in 2002.
SOURCES: NASCAR, Racing-Reference.Info
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com