Changing of the guard
NASCAR got a glimpse of the next generation with Austin Dillon’s victory and Bubba Wallace’s history-making second-place finish in the Daytona 500.
DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. — Daytona Day was nothing short of a rousing success for NASCAR, which was able to celebrate both its storied past and youthful future on its biggest stage.
The Daytona 500 is the most important event of the year for NASCAR. With Austin Dillon’s victory in the famed No. 3 and Bubba Wallace’s history-making, secondplace finish, NASCAR got perhaps its most promising glimpse to date of the next generation.
Dillon wrecked Aric Almirola on the final lap in overtime at Daytona International Speedway to drive the car owned by his grandfather, Richard Childress , back into victory lane 17 years to the day that Dale Earnhardt was killed in an accident on the final lap of the season opener.
It came 20 years after Earnhardt’s only Daytona 500 victory, and in just the fifth appearance for the No. 3 in “The Great American Race” since Earnhardt’s death.
Dillon and much of his Richard Childress Racing crew celebrated into the wee hours Monday by getting tattoos, permanent ones, on their buttocks. Wallace, driving the iconic No. 43 for Richard Petty, was the first black driver in the Daytona 500 field since 1969.
His finish was the highest of any black driver in the 500 since Wendell Scott was 13th in 1966.
Wallace has rocketed to fame in the last month and won new fans following an emotional, postrace scene that included a long, tearful embrace with his mother that symbolized the struggles Wallace has faced on the road to NASCAR’s top series.
Baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron called him before the Daytona 500, and Lewis Hamilton, the only black driver in Formula One, tweeted he would be cheering for Wallace. When told about Hamilton’s well-wishes, Wallace admitted to “fangirling out.”
“I look up to him. He does so many great things in the F1 world . ... Then he sent out a tweet and I got weak at the knees,” Wallace said.
Wallace noted what the kind words from Aaron and Hamilton really mean for the sport.
“People are tuning in and hopefully noticing the new face and the new change that’s coming to NASCAR,” he said.