Add Darrell “Bubba” Wallace to the list of drivers to watch this season in the newly rebranded NASCAR Xfinity Series. Wallace, a product of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program, won four races in 2014 driving for Joe Gibbs Racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. For the new season, Wallace has moved to Roush Fenway Racing, where he will drive the No. 6 Ford Mustang. The 21-year-old spoke with SportsBusiness Journal writer Adam Stern about that transition, and about the challenge in finding a sponsor.
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Wallace is making the move to the NASCAR Xfinity Series this season.
Photo by: Getty Images |
■ On why he switched from Joe Gibbs Racing to Roush Fenway Racing: “This was something we really had to look into to see what was the best option for the next step in my career. Roush had an opening, and the potential to run full time was something that I was really pushing for. … I have to keep getting my face out there in front of the cameras and keep winning races. It’s been a fun switch. I’m still trying to figure out everybody’s name. I know my crew chief’s name; that’s pretty much it. Everybody else is, ‘Hey bud, hey man, how are you?’”
■ On linking up with Maverick Carter’s agency to help find a sponsor and other marketing opportunities: “That’s huge. That story kind of got blown into more than it was. That was just an introduction call to the Fenway guys to get that relationship going. I talked to Maverick Carter for a brief second and we talked about things that maybe could be in the works for the future and left it at that. And then, all of a sudden, it was: ‘Maverick Carter and LeBron James are working on his sponsorship.’ Anything they can do to help get sponsors helps, for sure.”
n On the challenge of finding a sponsor: “It’s always been the never-ending battle in the sport. I’ve been racing for 12 years; I’ve been battling sponsorship issues for 12 years. I’ve had plenty of practice with it; it doesn’t faze me. I just go out there and run and win races. If we win races and don’t get a sponsorship, I guess it wasn’t meant to be.”
■ On NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program: “The diversity program definitely helped me get to where I am today. It was a lot of fun in that program getting multiple wins and competing for a championship in the K&N Series. So I’m thankful for the opportunity I was given there. It’s awesome to see the new crop of drivers that are coming through each and every year. This year’s group is pretty stout. It’s always fun to watch who’s the next one coming up. People are saying me right now, but hell, you have to keep looking at who’s younger because they’re winning races and trying to get up there as well.”
■ On improving diversity in NASCAR: “It’s just going to take time, I believe, and I can’t really pinpoint a time frame. You just have to keep working hard at it — plugging away — and you never know what can change. If you get 10 diversity drivers in the Sprint Cup Series, you never know what floodgates will open up and what aspects will change.”
■ On his role in growing NASCAR’s diversity: “I think of it sometimes and what my role is and what I have to do. But at the end of the day, I tell myself, ‘Go out there, do what you have to do, win the races, keep running up front.’ There’s so much on your plate when you get to the weekend as far as making sure you’re on time for the drivers’ meeting and appearances. And I feel that those little things add up and play a big part in that role that I have from a diversity standpoint.”
