Netflix released its first look at its new docuseries on NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace that will debut next month. The streaming giant dropped a trailer for the six-part series on Thursday.
RACE: Bubba Wallace examines the driver’s rise through the Camping World Truck Series and into NASCAR stardom. But it will primarily focus on the 28-year-old’s public and private life throughout the 2020 and 2021 seasons, when Bubba Wallace went from an up-and-coming star to a household name.
“With me, what you see is what you get,” Bubba Wallace said in a statement. “You’ll witness the peaks and valleys of the sport and see how one’s actions off of the race track are just as important as the ones on it.
“One of the most compelling pieces of the series is the additional insight the viewers will gain by hearing from my peers, family and some of my partners that played a role in this monumental journey. Join me as we break down barriers, confront controversy, and welcome a new fan base to the sport of NASCAR.”
Netflix will release RACE: Bubba Wallace on Feb. 22.
“It’s almost here,” Wallace hyped on Twitter. “I put a lot on the line with this @netflix project. Like I’ve said from day one, what you see is what you get. I wear my heart on my sleeve, and couldn’t be any happier with how #RACEBubbaWallace turned out.
Bubba Wallace: I Had a Responsibility to Stand Up Against Flag
Bubba Wallace, who drives the No. 23 Toyota for 23XI, made national headlines in 2020 when he said NASCAR should ban the Confederate Flag from its races. His stance came on the heels of the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.
NASCAR agreed and banned the flag, which made Wallace the face of the sport. Wallace said he felt he had to make a stand against the flag as the only black driver in the Cup Series. Even though he knew it would cause a stir.
“To be a black man, to be in that NASCAR space, and to wear a shirt that says ‘I Can’t Breathe,’ I have a responsibility,” he says in the trailer. “It’s automatic that I have a responsibility. True colors are going to come out.”
Floyd cried out “I Can’t Breathe” as former officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than 9 minutes. It became a rallying cry for protestors and those in favor of police reform following his death. Wallace spoke out about his own experiences.
But his forthright nature drew criticism and praise from NASCAR fans, and Wallace struggled under the microscope of the national media.
“The moment you take a stand as a black person in America, now you’re defined by that stand,” comedian W. Kamau Bell says in the trailer. “And you better be good.”
In October, Bubba Wallace got his first Cup Series race at Talladega Speedway. He joined Wendell Scott as the only black men to win a Cup race in NASCAR history.
