NASCAR driver Darrell Wallace Jr. “broke new ground” yesterday in the Nationwide Series Pioneer Hi-Bred 250 at Iowa Speedway as he was “just the third African-American driver to race on the NASCAR Nationwide circuit,” according to Mark Emmert of the DES MOINES REGISTER. The 18-year-old was “more interested in what he didn’t break -- the Toyota he was driving for Joe Gibbs Racing.” Wallace Jr. said, “It was definitely a great run for us.” Wallace Jr. was “cautious through much” of the race and finished ninth, on the lead lap and with "his car in one piece” (DES MOINES REGISTER, 5/21). In N.Y., Viv Bernstein wrote Joe Gibbs Racing President J.D. Gibbs has been “searching for NASCAR’s first black star for nearly a decade,” and Wallace Jr. “just might be the one to finally break through.” Gibbs said, “I think it’s a real value to this sport if you can kind of have that piece fit in.” Bernstein wrote NASCAR officials should have been “watching closely” during Wallace Jr.’s debut. NASCAR Senior VP & CMO Steve Phelps said, “What he potentially could do for the sport, it is an extremely important debut.” NASCAR has “created an ‘industry action plan’ to attract a multicultural audience, youths under 18 and the 18-to-34 demographic.” Phelps said Wallace Jr. can “help us with all three.” Bernstein wrote, "Much will depend on finding a company to sponsor Wallace." NASCAR has helped the Gibbs team “make contact with potential sponsors in a tough economy that has made it hard for even the best drivers to find backing.” Fuel Sports Management Group, a company that “matches sponsors with drivers, has also signed on to the Wallace effort.” Fuel has enlisted KWL Enterprises, run by Kevin Liles, the former Island/Def Jam Music Group president, to "find black-focused companies to connect to Wallace” (N.Y. TIMES, 5/20).
ONLY A MATTER OF TIME: NASCAR Chair & CEO Brian France said of Wallace Jr., “He’s somebody with the most promising talent who is an African-American who has come through our diversity program.” France said that he is “not surprised that it’s a tough climb up the NASCAR ladder for Wallace, because in order to get a full-time ride one must unseat ‘some of these guys who are the best in the world.’” France: “But somebody’s going to come and do it. He may be the one. I don’t know. We’ll have to see.” Meanwhile, France on Friday announced that NASCAR would “join Beyond Sport, a global organization that promotes the use of sports to create positive social change” (RACINTODAY.com, 5/19). ESPN’s Andy Petree said, "I’ve watched this guy, he is as aggressive on the racetrack, he’s not afraid to mix it up with them. I expect some big things out of him. I think he’s got what it takes to be here and be here long-term” (“NASCAR Countdown,” ESPN, 5/20).
