The new face of diversity in NASCAR

Quinn Casteel
Assistant Sports Editor

It’s Friday afternoon at Richmond International Raceway, which for the weekend, is the center of the NASCAR world.

The Nationwide Series race, featuring the ultra-popular Danica Patrick and motocross hero Travis Pastrana in his first-ever event at the level, is only four hours away. Twenty-four hours later, the major leaguers of racing will hit the track for the Capital City 400, a Sprint Cup Series race.

Pit row, lined with haulers, is total chaos as golf carts and crew members pushing race cars meander through the narrow pathways, while fans with pit passes scurry around trying to spot their favorite drivers. Team officials duck in and out of trailers and event staff in yellow shirts watch everyone’s every move. The drivers themselves are visiting with their families or catching a final breath of relaxation before the night of racing begins. Others are preparing for the upcoming pole or signing autographs for fans. NASCAR legend-turned-team owner Richard Petty is sitting under a canopy outside his hauler taking it all in.

Meanwhile, 19-year-old Darrell Wallace Jr. makes his way through the madness and strolls coolly up to the Joe Gibbs Racing hauler. He’s sporting a pair of dark sunglasses, an Oakley windbreaker, designer blue jeans and a sleek charcoal-colored watch. He’s of average build and doesn’t appear a day older than his age, but his demeanor is of someone who’s been in the sport for a couple decades.

Wallace, a developmental driver for Joe Gibbs’ team, is one of the racing world’s elite prospects. Before his 18th birthday he became one of eight drivers on a team with some of the sport’s biggest names in Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano. He is racing full time in the K&N Pro Series East this season and already has six wins in his professional career, the first of which came when he was 16. In 2010, he earned the K&N East Rookie of the Year award, preceded by a dominant three years in the United Auto Racing Association.

When Wallace was 9 years old, his dad asked him if he wanted to try racing and he quickly became hooked for life. Even though he did get started at a young age, he explains that some people would consider him behind the curve with many 5 and 6 year-olds even getting into the sport.

“I never really wanted to be a NASCAR driver,” said Wallace. “I always played basketball before, and never had the inspiration to go out and do it … My dad asked me if I wanted to try it, and I said ‘Sure’. I never thought I’d be where I am today. We just went out and did it for fun, then started getting more and more serious and it paid off.”

Wallace also happens to be black, which is a huge win for NASCAR as it attempts to diversify its sport and broaden its fan base. Wallace said he sees himself as an inspiration for African American children who want to get into NASCAR, but haven’t had any positive encouragement to do so.

“I believe (black children) are only interested in other sports because they don’t have anyone to look up to in NASCAR,” Wallace said. “They have M.J. in basketball and everybody in football; they want to be like them and do the things they do. There’s nobody in NASCAR just yet so that’s what I’m trying to do: become an idol.”

Wallace came up through NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program, which for the past eight years has actively been bringing non-white and female drivers into the sport. After decades of being almost entirely made up of Southern white men, NASCAR has been proactive in reaching out to other groups and is seeing some major results. In the K&N Pro Series race at Richmond on Thursday evening, there were five drivers from Mexico and three from Brazil. Wallace, who won his last race at Richmond International Raceway in 2011, finished 28th after his car spun out on the 102nd of 103 laps.

“You always want to go out and defend your title, so it was frustrating, but it’s racing,” he said. “I can’t say enough about Joe Gibbs Racing for putting me in that car this year.”

Wallace credits the Drive for Diversity program with drawing interest out side of the traditional white NASCAR audience, but he plans to accelerate that interest by winning some marquee races. He also said he is beginning to see a difference already in the NASCAR culture and is doing everything he can on a personal level to promote that change.

“Some people are already looking up to me,” Wallace said. “I ran a race down in Atlanta last year, and there was a black kid right beside us; he was 8 or 9. Then, we went out there and won the race, and my dad came up to me and he was like, ‘Why don’t you give the trophy to that kid?’ So I signed the trophy, gave it to him, and he’s been a fan for life. Every time I see him he comes up to me, or I’ll go see him and see how he’s doing, so it’s cool to have little kids like that look up to you. It makes you feel like you’re on top of the world.”

Drivers like Wallace are exactly what NASCAR was looking for when it began Drive for Diversity in 2004, but despite the success of the program, there are factors outside the control of NASCAR that have held back the advancement of its diversity outreach. If you walk through the fan parking lot at Richmond International on race weekend, you’ll see a couple dozen RV’s and trailers flying Confederate flags. Some of those flags are hung alongside Dale Earnhardt Jr. No. 88 flags or No. 48 flags showing support for Jimmy Johnson, which could not be further from what NASCAR and the drivers themselves stand for.

Ignorant fans such as those are the vast minority, but because they put themselves in the forefront as some of the most passionate supporters of the sport, they often give NASCAR a bad name and detract potential fans.

That said, NASCAR’s relationship with the issue of diversity is endlessly complex, because although it has had problems with race, it is also the only major sport where women can compete head-to-head with men. Patrick, who finished 21st on Friday night, is one of the sport’s most popular drivers despite never having won a race. And even though she, along with other female drivers, has drawn criticism from NASCAR ambassadors such as Petty, her achievements have done wonders for the sport.

For Wallace, achievement on the track will be the most important thing in his quest to become an inspiration for African American children across the country.

“Hopefully I’ll make it through the NASCAR ranks and the Cup ranks, performing well and doing anything I can to make them proud,” he said. “There’s no one there yet for them to look up to, but it’s definitely increasing.”

A 28th place finish on Thursday equates to a frustrating race weekend for Wallace, the rest of which will consist of fan interaction, meetings and cheering on his teammates. He knows though, that a rough night in Richmond is a mere speed bump in a career that has promise to be a transcendent one, on and off the track.

As a member of Joe Gibbs racing, with all the talent surrounding him, Wallace is in great position to achieve everything he wants to. And if his potential is anything close to what Gibbs and other great NASCAR minds see in him, Wallace may one day not only be a face of diversity in NASCAR, but an icon for the sport as a whole. CT