NASCAR Crash Course: Why Bubba Wallace's win is so important for NASCAR - CBS Sports

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In June 2020, Bubba Wallace left Talladega Superspeedway the epicenter of NASCAR's racial justice movement after an alleged noose was found inside the garage area. Michael Jordan watched from afar, the NBA's best player-turned-owner with a passing interest in motorsports. 

Then 16 months later, Wallace left a Cup Series winner, driving for Jordan himself in the biggest breakthrough turnaround the sport has seen this year. 

It took a rain delay and a wild finish to the end of stage two to get the job done, but Wallace ended in first at the Yellawood 500, 71 laps short of its scheduled distance. For those who consider 23XI Racing their North Star, capable of ushering in a new diversity movement, no one cares much about an assist from Lady Luck.  

Least of all Wallace himself. 

"Doesn't matter if I won by a thousand laps or won a rain-shortened race, not everybody is going to be happy with it," Wallace said. "That's okay because I know one person that is happy and that's me, because I'm a winner and they're not." 

It's hard to understate the significance of this moment. Wallace became the first African-American "standing" in NASCAR victory lane since Wendell Scott in December 1963. Standing is in quotes for a reason. Scott's win came three months after Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech, when much of the south was still under Jim Crow segregation laws. NASCAR initially gave the win to someone else that night, in part due to potential fan backlash, before rightfully awarding the win to Scott after the driver filed a formal protest. 

"It means a lot," Wallace said of making history. "I think about the next generation that wants to be a part of this sport. I think this gives them a little bit more motivation, a little bit more fuel in the tank… we look at our demographic of our sport and we want it to change so desperately. With everything that's gone on in the last 16 months, we are trending upwards. 

"But we still have a lot of work to do. I know the biggest work that can be done is on the racetrack and we were able to accomplish that today." 

This sport has lagged behind others for decades when it comes to diversity. When Tiger Woods lit up the PGA in the late 1990s, NASCAR didn't have a single Black driver running in the Cup Series.

Then came Wallace, running from 2017-2020 with backing of the sport's King, Richard Petty. He made the best of his chance with a single-car operation but had just three top-5 finishes in his first four full-time seasons before Jordan stepped in, jumping into ownership with a little help from good friend Denny Hamlin. 

"This would not be possible without him," said Hamlin, earning his first victory on the ownership side. "This would not be possible without the support of Toyota. There's so many different people that said, 'Okay, you want to do this, all right, we're going to stand behind you."  

The first year for the team hasn't been easy, a playoff miss marked by going their first 18 races without a top-10 finish. Wallace has looked the part of a superstar, charismatic and charming (just look at his victory lane dog photos as proof). The popularity just hadn't come with on-track success as the team struggled to keep up with the sport's multi-car giants. 

But pack racing has always been the great equalizer, a track type where Wallace had earned two runner-up finishes -- including in the 2018 Daytona 500. He was on his game throughout this race, charging to the front at the end of stage two while holding off the winningest active driver here before the rains came, Team Penske's Brad Keselowski. 

"He's just got a knack for it," Hamlin said of his driver's superspeedway prowess. "I've just seen a transition with him, his willingness to take in information and apply it. I think this is not going to be the last time you're going to be hearing about his name on a superspeedway. He's very gifted at 'em. He has very, very good instincts." 

Can this translate into long-term success? The confidence inflated into this race team should help them immensely both for the rest of the season and into 2022, when Kurt Busch and a new chassis should give this driver and team a chance to take the next step: playoffs.  

And for a generation of minority drivers looking for their shot? They just saw a role model step up and take charge at racing's highest level. 

"You're going to go through a lot of BS," Wallace said. "When you want to stand up for what's right and be yourself, encourage others to do the same. So just be ready for that. Don't let anybody else [say] you can't do something that you're so passionate about. Just always stay true to your craft. 

"I support the next generation coming up through. The sport is tough. I'm going to give it everything I got to keep you from beating me. But if you are passionate about being where you want to be inside this sport, then be part of it. Stay true to it, never give up, just keep pushing." 

Traffic Report

Green: Bootie Barker & McDonald's
The historic nature of Monday's win wasn't just limited to Wallace. Barker, the wheelchair-bound crew chief of the No. 23, earned his first Cup win in 484 Cup starts dating all the way back to 2003 and Ryan Blaney's father (Dave). Sponsor McDonald's earned their first NASCAR win in 27 years, since July 1994 and Jimmy Spencer. 

Yellow: Team Penske
It wasn't the win this team wanted at a track they're typically at their best. But for Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Blaney, solid finishes here leave them all 15 points or more above the cutline heading to the Charlotte ROVAL this weekend. They're the only multi-car team still with all drivers in good position to make the Round of 8. 

Red: Hendrick Motorsports
What few incidents there were in this rain-shortened, weird Talladega race involved NASCAR's top regular season team. First, Kyle Larson was an innocent victim when Justin Allgaier's spinning car slammed into him. Then, Alex Bowman was spun out of the lead before Ryan Preece's out-of-control Chevrolet took out Byron in the race's final crash. 

The end result: three drivers scoring a grand total of four points. With both Byron or Bowman in win-or-bust mode, at least one of their drivers will fail to make the next round. It's possible the almost unthinkable could happen and all four could miss out. 

Speeding Ticket: Lights
Talladega is one of the most popular tracks on the NASCAR schedule, an unpredictable race where the package run here creates Cinderella stories. All three top series had first-time winners this weekend: Wallace, Brandon Brown (Xfinity Series) and Tate Fogleman (Truck Series).  

So why would NASCAR and their track arm (International Speedway Corporation) not invest in lights? A rain delay to Monday kills the ratings and kept many fans from seeing a historic moment live. The window of opportunity to finish the race was slim both days with sunset shortly after 6 p.m. Central time. 

Oops!

The Fogleman finish was the craziest of the three, ending with the No. 12 tapping the truck of John Hunter Nemechek heading to the start/finish line. Both drivers spun out but Fogleman crossed the line first. 

Since he hit the inside wall, that meant a victory lane interview in the most unlikely of places: outside Talladega's infield care center. It was the first superspeedway race Fogleman ever finished. 

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NASCAR Crash Course: Why Bubba Wallace's win is so important for NASCAR - CBS Sports
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