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Darrell Wallace Jr. is trekking serious ground as being only the fourth black driver to earn a full-time spot in a NASCAR series.
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Shattering racial barriers in a sport is very triumphant—and challenging—for a 19 year-old teenager. Nevertheless, Wallace is excited about his mission to become the Tiger Woods of NASCAR — the great African-American star who can transcend the sport and prove people of all colors can race.
Wallace says he has no problem being the one to lead the way.
“You don’t have a role model. That’s why you don’t see anybody in it,” Wallace said. “They can’t look up and be like, ‘I want to be like him because he’s the same color as me.’ There’s no one there to do that. I’m the top one right now and I’m only 19.”
Wallace joins Wendell Scott, Willy T. Ribbs and Bill Lester as the only full-time black drivers in the 65-year history of NASCAR. Scott is the only black driver to win a race, back in 1964.
The young driver overcame the abundance of racial insults and opposition on all levels to get to where he is today.
“We used to take it from fans,” his father, Darrell, said. “We’ve had it from other drivers. We’ve had it from officials. We’ve had it from promoters. We’ve had it from track owners. We’ve pretty much had it from everybody.”
But Wallace’s Mother gave him a word of wisdom early on that he still carries with him to this day.
“Avoid confrontations with other drivers who used slurs. Just go win.”
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