Why Bubba Wallace’s Talladega win is such a big moment for NASCAR
Bubba Wallace claimed his maiden NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega on Monday to become the first Black victor in the category since Wendell Scott in 1963. Both Wallace and Scott had faced obstacles and racism in their paths to their breakthrough wins, and NASCAR is trying to put it right with its range of diversity programmes
The last time an African-American driver won a top-tier NASCAR race, it was December 1963. But what happened next at Speedway Park’s half-mile dirt track in Jacksonville, Florida couldn’t have been more different from the reaction to Bubba Wallace’s maiden career Cup Series win on the high banks of Talladega on Monday.
In the winter of ’63, Wendell Scott was never given the trophy and, initially, he was flat-out denied his win. Instead, Hall of Famer Buck Baker was declared the victor, and he received the trophy and got to kiss the ‘race queen’ on the podium for photos.
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