Kids pushing vets for playoff berths
NASCAR’s young ’uns are growing up.
Generation Next isn’t sitting around the garage, smitten by tales of their elders and genuflecting at the sight of their firesuits.
They are out to kick some old-man backside.
Respectfully so, of course.
But still, it’s cool to see COMMENTARY ponder this one:
will become the first black driver to race in a NASCAR Cup race since 2006 when he fills in for
at Pocono Raceway this weekend.
“I mean, this is a huge step for NASCAR, the whole sport in general, for bringing diversity to its top tier level of NASCAR,” Wallace said during a teleconference on Tuesday.
“I’m glad to be leading the forefront of that right now. It just shows that we’re trying to bring in a new demographic.
“We’re trying to bring in a new face, get a younger generation, no matter what color, what age. We’re trying to get everybody involved to bring NASCAR back.” Wallace, 23, supplants
who raced at Atlanta and Michigan in 2006.
Wallace gets to make history in the iconic No. 43 for Motorsports, sitting in for Almirola while he continues his rehab work after suffering a fractured vertebrae in a nasty crash on May 13 at Kansas Speedway.
“You got to be ready for what comes at you,” Wallace said.
“For some reason I’ve been beating myself up over for the last two years now, trying to get our first win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. It’s not for the lack of effort.”
Wallace is an old guard in stock-car racing. He began his career when he was 8.