Bubba Wallace earns first NASCAR victory

Wallace is the first Black driver to win at the top level of the elite stock car series since Wendell Scott in 1963, a race where he wasn’t declared the victor until long after Buck Baker had already been rewarded the trophy.

Bubba Wallace celebrates after winning the rain-shortened NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

The hard part wasn’t dodging his way around a crash and then driving to the front of the field at Talladega Superspeedway. That was just instinct for Bubba Wallace.

The challenge was the 45 minutes after Wallace took the lead, when the sky opened and he anxiously sat in the rain — hoping, wishing, praying — that NASCAR would call off Monday’s rescheduled race and declare him the winner.