Whatever the future holds for NASCAR, Bubba Wallace will be a very big part of it. In fact, he appears to be on the fast-track to part ownership of a racing team.
Wallace, who can become a free agent in 2021, has been offered an ownership stake in Richard Petty Motorsports, the team he currently drives for and there are reports that interest extends beyond RPM.
“We’re in discussions with him about an extension that includes ownership in the team,” Andrew Murstein, who owns RPM along with the legendary Petty, told Forbes, adding that he expects to have an agreement finalized “within the next couple of weeks.”
The sport’s only African American driver at the highest level of competition, Wallace’s profile outstripped his accomplishments so far on track earlier this summer, when he helped usher the sport into a new era with comments that led NASCAR to banning the Confederate flag from its events. He continued to be outspoken about police brutality, social injustice and racism after the killing of George Floyd and drove a “Black Lives Matter” car in early June. He gained further national attention when a noose was found in the garage he was using at Talladega Speedway and his fellow drivers rallied behind him. An investigation determined that the rope wasn’t targeting Wallace, but the incident drew the attention of President Donald Trump.
It is unusual for drivers to be offered an ownership stake in negotiations, especially if they’re only 26 and rank 20th in the NASCAR standings. Jeff Gordon signed a lifetime deal that included an ownership stake with Hendrick Motorsports and Tony Stewart received a 50% stake from Gene Haas, forming what is now Stewart-Haas Racing, but both men had won championships. Wallace has something that might just be as precious: a high profile that included a number of national TV interviews.
“There’s a plethora of drivers,” Murstein said. “There is only one Bubba.”
However, Wallace told NBC Sports Sunday that he had “a lot of options on the table.” One, the Sports Business Journal reported, could be Chip Ganassi Racing, which has an open Cup Series seat for 2021 after firing Kyle Larson for using a racial slur. McDonald’s and Coca-Cola sponsor CGR and also work with Wallace.
The business of Bubba is booming, with his elevated profile bringing a new team sponsorship with Cash App and a personal deal with Beats by Dre.
“We went from probably having one meeting a week with a potential sponsor to five the last five weeks or so,” Murstein said. “I think Bubba is probably the most recognizable NASCAR driver now, other than Richard Petty. So we’ve got probably the two most recognizable names in the sport. It’s a marketer’s dream.”
Wallace’s career best was second place in the 2018 Daytona 500 and his best finish this season is sixth at Las Vegas. Wallace has driven full-time for RPM since 2018 and the company could use a boost after going from two teams to one before 2017.
“The nice thing about this sport is that you can do better quickly if you spend the money,” said Murstein. “It’s not like other sports where you only have so much talent. Here, the technology on the car is part of the talent.”
Besides Wallace, Brad Keselowski, Erik Jones, Aric Almirola and Larson are among those who may become free agents.
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