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Darrel Wallace Jr.—aka Bubba—grew up to the hum of the racetrack. Now, in the wake of Aric Almirola’s departure from Richard Petty Motorsports in September, he’s gearing up to take over the wheel of the iconic No. 43, the same car that propelled the legendary Petty to NASCAR stardom.

“It’s like he’d been there forever,” Petty told The New York Times of placing Bubba, 24, in the driver’s seat for next year’s Cup Series. But the NASCAR space remains a white, white world, and Wallace’s accomplishments (the first African-American to win a national series race since Wendell Scott in 1963, Bubba’s now also the first full-time Black driver in NASCAR’s top series since 1971) hasn’t come without trial.

“Once the winning started to come about, that’s when issues started to come,” Bubba tells CASSIUS. “Like, ‘a Black kid in NASCAR trying to race has no business being out here.'” But Bubba and his team used the criticism as fuel to move forward.

In this installment of OtherWorlds, CASSIUS had a chance to speak with Bubba just before he set his latest record. “This is my passion,” says Bubba. Get to know the groundbreaking NASCAR hero above.

Video Credits

Executive Producer: Detavio Samuels

Executive Producer: Kierna Mayo

Head of Video: Gideon Moncrieffe

Directed By: Kyle Goldberg

Director of Photography: Kyle Goldberg

Cinematographer: Skyler Brown

Producer: Dennis Bates

Producer: Joyce Caron – Mercier

Editor: Kyle Goldberg

Production Manager: Danielle Jones

Special Thanks

The NASCAR Experience

Bubba Wallace Jr.

Kyle Hall

Joyce Caron