Exclusive: NASCAR star Bubba Wallace He was once accused of bringing politics into NASCAR. But this election won't even come close.
In July 2020, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and after the George Floyd riots. Wallace published several posts on X (then known as Twitter), condemning former President Donald Trump for spreading hate.
Wallace then alleged that he was told he was “bringing politics to NASCAR” in response to his criticism of Trump. He has not posted any posts about the 2024 election or any similar political issues in public statements.
“It seems like a waste of time to invest in this,” Wallace told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. “I definitely spoke out more loudly then because our sport desperately needed change.”
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Bubba Wallace looks on during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Bus Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on September 20, 2024 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
Now, in 2024, Wallace has only one message to send to his fans about the beliefs he wants to share with them.
“Go to McDonald's,” Wallace said when asked by Fox News Digital what faith he wanted to convey to his fans in an election year. “Buy a meal, get 10 pieces of chicken nuggets, fries, Dr. Pepper and then collect that money and it will all go to (the Ronald McDonald House charity).”
For Wallace, the change in priorities comes after four years as a rising star in NASCAR. But also a breakthrough moment for him in starting a family. In 2021, he joined Michael Jordan's NASCAR team, serving as the starting driver in Jordan's famous No. 23 car. In 2022, Wallace set his record as the tallest Black driver in the Dayton 500.
At the time, he was engaged and married to his wife Amanda Carter. And on September 29, they welcomed their first child, a son named Becks Hayden Wallace.
He admits his priorities have changed and attributes it to fatherhood. He also claims that he now looks beyond “what” someone is like.
“I deeply believe that the best way to live is to be a good person to others. No matter what side you're on, no matter the color of your skin, at the end of the day, we're in this world together and we've got to figure this out together, and I think I've said that from day one and that hasn't changed and won't change.”
Wallace has refrained from expressing his political beliefs on social media. He even went as far as to completely delete all social media apps from his phone. Currently, his X feed is simply a curated mix of race photos, promotional posts, and family photos.
One of the biggest reasons why Wallace abandoned this practice as of 2020 is the cultural shift that has taken place in social media during this time. Wallace said there was overwhelming “negativity” on the platforms he used to get the message out he believed.
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Bubba Wallace, driver of the No. 23 McDonald's Toyota, pits during the 65th annual Daytona 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway on February 19, 2023 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Mike Ehrman/Getty Images)
“In this day and age, social media allows people to hide behind their screens and express their opinions on topics they don't really know anything about,” Wallace said.
The main social media platform Wallace used during his 2020 criticism of Trump was Twitter. In the four years since then, the platform has undergone a transformation under tech tycoon Elon Musk. Musk's purchase of the platform in October 2022 brought, among other things, massive staff turnover, a complete overhaul of the way the platform verifies accounts, and alignment with X. Some are calling this radical change a free speech renaissance. But others did criticize the mask and the changes, including from Democratic lawmakers.
Representative Jerry Nadler, New York Democrat and ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, wrote a letter Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), requesting an investigation into election-related disinformation published by the Grok AI chatbot on the X platform. California Governor Greg Newsom on September 17 signed the nation's strictest law banning digitally altered political “deepfakes” disguised as sharing by artificial intelligence of a parody film mocking Kamala Harris' candidacy for president.
Meanwhile, since 2020, another social media platform has been actively spreading left-wing disinformation. Meta Director Admits Mark Zuckerberg In August, senior Biden administration officials pressed Facebook to “censor” some COVID-19 content during the pandemic and vowed to oppose it if the social media giant faced such demands again.
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Chicago Bears quarterback Bubba Wallace and Justin Fields, driver of the No. 23 McDonald's Toyota, pose for a photo during the drivers' meeting in the Chicago Stock Exchange trading floor at the Art Institute of Chicago before the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 220 race on July 2, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. (Michael Reeves/Getty Images)
As a result, Wallace doesn't believe platforms are worth his time anymore, especially now that he's a father.
“It's too much negativity that will take years to get rid of, and we don't have time for it,” Wallace said of the current social media culture. “Now, beyond being a dad and trying to be the best for my race team and my team, that's where I invest my energy, to do what you can really ask for.”
For Wallace, becoming a father in such a short time was a transformative experience. Since the birth of his son, Wallace has twice finished in the top 10 in the three races he has entered. He looks at life through a lens he has never seen before.
“You have kids at home and now a full family, so it's crazy to go through all this,” Wallace said.
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