Bubba Wallace earned his first Cup Series win on Monday, and Michael Jordan has a message for him. Jordan is the owner of 23XI Racing, which is the team Wallace represents. On the team’s Twitter account, Jordan sent a message to Wallace congratulating him on the historic victory.
“I’m so happy for Bubba and our entire racing team,” Jordan said. This is a huge milestone and a historic win for us. From the day we signed him I knew Bubba had the talent to win and Denny [Hamlin] and I could not be more proud of him. Let’s go!” Wallace won the Yellawood 500 at the Talladega Superspeedway. The race took place on Monday after it was postponed on Sunday due to inclement weather. The race was cut short due to the rain in the area, and Wallace became the first Black NASCAR driver to win a Cup Series race since Wendell Scott in 1963.
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“Got some credibility to my name now,” Wallace said after the race, per ESPN. “I’m just like, ‘Finally, I’m a winner and I’m a winner in the Cup level,’ and it’s just like ‘Hell yeah!’ It was a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.” Wallace made headlines last year after becoming the unofficial NASCAR spokesperson during the Black Lives Matter movement. He is responsible for NASCAR banning Confederate flags at races, and when his team thought there was an apparent noose in his garage in Talladega, all the drivers stood by him.
“It’s definitely been tough going to some of the tracks this year, we get some of the most boos now,” Wallace said. “Everybody says as long as they’re making noise that’s fine, but you know, I get booed for different reasons, and that’s the tough thing to swallow. I appreciate all those who were there doing the rain dance with us, pulling for us, supporting me my whole career, but especially those who have supported me with everything that’s gone on the last 15-16 months.” Wallace’s win comes during the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. He is not in the playoffs, but Hamlin, who owns 23XI Racing with Jordan, is one of the playoff drivers and is very happy for Wallace.
“It’s Talladega. It’s his home state,” Hamlin said. “Everything that happened at Talladega last year. Things that Bubba didn’t ask to happen but he had to go through it.”
