Bubba Wallace, the only black driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, recently opened up on dealing with opposition from closed-minded fans who don't want to see NASCAR's popularity expand.
Before the Chicago Street Race, Wallace held Bubba's Block Party on Thursday at the DuSable Black History Museum in Chicago to raise knowledge, access, and involvement in the sport within the Black community. There were several activities available for NASCAR supporters of all ages.
Bubba Wallace has been criticized throughout the weekend for being overhyped and over-promoted. He was labelled as not a great racer, with fans also calling him one of NASCAR's spokespersons just because he is the only black full-time driver in the sport.
Wallace recently clapped back at those racist NASCAR fans in an interview with the Chicago Sun Times.
"Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t like changes that we’re doing as a sport to tap into different demographics and make the sport more welcoming and inclusive, and that’s on them, they have to live with that. For us, we continue to march forward," he said.
This is not the first time Wallace had to endure racist comments during his career. There was a whole "noose" controversy surrounding him when a loose noose was found in his garage back in 2020.
There have been several incidents where Bubba Wallace openly spoke about racism in the sport and how people should be more inclusive of it.
What is Bubba Wallace's Bubba's Block Party?
Back in March, NASCAR announced to bring back Bubba's Block Party again. The family-friendly event is hosted by 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace. But what is Bubba's Block Party?
A community-focused NASCAR effort called Bubba's Block Party seeks to increase black people's knowledge of, access to, and involvement in the sport while building anticipation for race weekend.
The most recent Bubba's Block Party was hosted right before the Chicago Street race, which was a huge success. Wallace's Bubba's Block Party was held at Washington Park at the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center.
One of the major activities leading up to the first NASCAR Chicago Street Race is the Block Party. Everything was picked up with one goal in mind: to introduce NASCAR to communities of color and other groups that aren't typically interested in the sport. This included the food trucks, activities, entertainment, and host location.
Some of the events included a racing simulator for children and adults, remote control cars for little kids, Bubba's pit crew demonstrating how a pitstop works in NASCAR, free haircuts for everyone and to end the evening, Chicago Hip-hop artist Lupe Fiasco had a small performance.