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Bubba Wallace becomes first Black man to win NASCAR Cup race since 1963

NASCAR Bristol Auto Racing
Posted at 3:22 PM, Oct 04, 2021
and last updated 2021-10-04 17:22:24-04

Bubba Wallace won the rain-shortened YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway Monday.

With the victory, NASCAR says Wallace became the first Black driver to win a Cup Series race since Wendell Scott in 1963. It was also Wallace's first in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Wallace took the lead right before the rain came. NASCAR said Wallace led five of the 117 laps. The race was scheduled for 190 laps, but officials called it off due to the rain, and the unlikelihood that the track would dry quick enough after the rain stopped.

The race was originally scheduled for Monday, but heavy rains forced it to be pushed back until Monday.

Wallace became an outspoken advocate in NASCAR last year. He drove a Black Lives Matter car in support of racial justice. He also got NASCAR to ban Confederate flags.

The FBI also investigated after Wallace's team found what appeared to be a noose hanging from his garage. The FBI later determined that Wallace was not the target of a hate crime. They said the rope, which was fashioned like a noose, had been hanging from the garage for months.