Who Is Bubba Wallace? A Guide to the Netflix Docuseries 'Race'

Changing the game. Being the only Black NASCAR star comes with both incredible success and high-profile controversy — just ask Bubba Wallace.

The professional stock racer, 27, whose real name is Darrell Wallace Jr., rose to prominence during the 2020 season after successfully campaigning to have the Confederate flag banned from all NASCAR events. “No one should feel uncomfortable when they come to a NASCAR race,” he told CNN in June 2020 after unveiling a Black Lives Matter paint scheme on his car. “It starts with Confederate flags. Get them out of here. They have no place for them.”

His fight for equal rights caused controversy among fans of the sport, but it also brought NASCAR to a brand new audience. Wallace is hoping to expand that audience even further with his Netflix documentary series, Race: Bubba Wallace, which chronicles the driver’s 2021 season.

“This is unlike any project I’ve ever participated in; it’s a raw, emotional and completely transparent account of the events that took place throughout the 2020 and 2021 NASCAR seasons,” Wallace said of the series, which “traces his rise to the elite ranks of NASCAR as the only full-time Black driver and the turbulent aftermath that followed his decision to speak out about racial injustice,” per the official synopsis.

He continued: “With me, what you see is what you get. You’ll witness the peaks and valleys of the sport and see how one’s actions off of the race track are just as important as the ones on it.”

In addition to chronicling his quest for victory on the track, Race will also highlight Wallace’s relationship with his loved ones, including fiancée Amanda Carter. The couple, who have been dating since 2016, got engaged in July 2021 while NASCAR was on hiatus. “Why I waited so long..we will never know,” the athlete wrote on Twitter after Carter, 26, said yes. “The wait is over!! Here’s to forever! Forever ever!”

Carter stood by her partner’s side through the ups and downs of his past few years, advocating for everyone to analyze their own preconceptions about race. “We must continue the conversation, no one is exempt from taking a look at themselves,” she wrote via Instagram in June 2020. “Thank you to those who have been working toward a better future whether that is in private or public, these waves will bring change.”

Keep scrolling to learn everything to know about Race and its star.

Who Is Bubba Wallace?
The Alabama native is currently the only full-time Black driver to compete in the NASCAR Cup Series and is the first African-American to win the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Wallace is currently ranked 21st in the NASCAR Cup Series and recently won the 2021 YellaWood 500 in Talladega, Alabama. Netflix

Which Team Does He Drive For?
As of 2021, Wallace is a member of 23XI Racing, the team created by basketball great Michael Jordan and NASCAR veteran Denny Hamlin. His car is number 23, an homage to the number that Jordan wore throughout his basketball career. Netflix

Has He Always Been a Passionate Activist?
"Bubba always cared, he was always aware of what was happening in the world when it came to race relations, because he saw it firsthand," the NASCAR star's father, Darrell Wallace, told ESPN in December 2020. While he acknowledged that his son was primarily focused on racing, the death of Ahmaud Arbery in February 2020 made the racer realize he needed to take a bigger stand. "Now he understands, it's time to stop putting up with this," the elder Wallace continued. "It's time to have a conversation, whether people want to have it or not. I think that you could say that about nearly everybody in America this year. You could say it about everybody in the world. But everybody doesn't have the stage Bubba has, and most haven't had the year that he has had either." Netflix

What Did He Advocate for?
In addition to having his car repainted to honor the Black Lives Matter movement and advocating for justice for Arbery and George Floyd, Bubba became one of the leading voices calling for NASCAR to ban the Confederate flag, which has been linked to NASCAR since the early days of the sport. "My next step would be to get rid of all Confederate flags. No one should feel uncomfortable when they come to a NASCAR race. So it starts with Confederate flags. Get them out of here. They have no place for them," he told CNN in June 2020. John Raoux/AP/Shutterstock

How Was His Request Received by NASCAR?
Though the league banned the flags two days after Bubba's public plea, the situation was met with trepidation from some of his fellow drivers, who were worried their sponsors would drop them. "It's tough. 'They don't want us to talk about it,'" he told ESPN of the response he got. During the 2020 season, he was assigned security at the tracks after the league received threats about him. He also faced some punishment from NASCAR itself for being outspoken about issues of social justice over the years. "I’ve gotten [fined by NASCAR] for saying what’s on my mind, my wallet has been hurt because of that," he alleged to the Associated Press in November 2020. "This is me. I feel what’s right, I say it, and that’s it." Netflix

Did He Deal With Any Threats?
On June 21 2020, a noose was found in Bubba's garage stall at the Talladega Superspeedway. “Today’s despicable act of racism and hatred leaves me incredibly saddened and serves as a painful reminder of how much further we have to go as a society and how persistent we must be in the fight against racism,” he said in a statement via Twitter at the time. NASCAR condemned the "heinous" act and launched an investigation into the situation. Two days later, the FBI announced that the rope was a door pulley that had been in the stall since October 2019 and concluded that a hate crime had not been committed. "We appreciate the FBI’s quick and thorough investigation and are thankful to learn that this was not an intentional, racist act against Bubba," NASCAR noted in a statement at the time. Bubba however, told CNN that he was "pissed" by the FBI's findings, maintaining that it was "a straight-up noose." Netflix

But Was There Any Support?
Despite some backlash, Bubba was also supported by NASCAR and its fans as he took a stand against racism. At the start of the Talladega 500, all 39 of Bubba's fellow drivers and their crews pushed his car to the front line in the minutes before the race began. "We just wanted to show our support. ... I hope a lot of people will look at that and learn from everyone coming together and supporting each other. That's what it's gonna take to make things better," Ryan Blaney told ESPN in June 2020. Netflix

What Did ‘Race’ Capture?
The Netflix series was filmed during the 2021 season and chronicles the aftermath of the flag ban and Bubba's decision to speak out about racial injustice. In addition, cameras were present for his races, including his historic first place win at the NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Speedway in October 2021. Netflix

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