INTERVIEW: Being Bubba Wallace

This afternoon on the outskirts of Chicago, Illinois, Darrell "Bubba" Wallace will climb into the No. 98 Nickelodeon Slime Ford Mustang and chase the first NASCAR Xfinity Series win of his career.

Yeah, we all know Wallace is the first African-American racer to roll into Victory Lane since the intrepid Wendell Scott back in 1963, but the six-time NASCAR Truck Series race winner's focus is solely on becoming a grid fixture in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

And he's moving in that direction. Despite a tumultuous year, Wallace has kept his cool and made the best of every opportunity presented to him. A few hours before making his way to the starting grid for his 13th Xfinity Series start of 2017, Wallace spoke to RACER about what he sees coming in the near future.

Q: Between the lost Xfinity opportunity with the Roush Fenway Racing, landing at Richard Petty Motorsports for a four-race stint in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, and winning a Camping World Truck Series race at Michigan, it's been an erratic season for you. Dd all the adversity and scrambling teach you things about not only driving, but about yourself?

BUBBA WALLACE: I absolutely believe so. Getting that opportunity with Petty and filling in for Aric [Almirola] was pretty special, and it definitely helped my career and gave it a little leap from where we were. It was unfortunate about the Xfinity-side of things, where I felt we had a really good shot at the championship. Things just fell through there. It's just God's plan of showing how one door closes and another one opens up. It's just my job to capitalize and make the most of it.

Q: After this Sunday, there will be nine more weekends of NASCAR racing remaining in 2017. I know it may be early to tell, but do you see yourself lining up for a few more races before the curtain comes down at Miami-Homestead?

BW: Yeah, we have some things rolling, I think. There is always that uncertainty of "is it really going to go through? Is it not going to go through?" It's just one of those tough spots about this sport. The sponsorship side of it can be tough. It's just unfortunate that we're in that battle.

Q: I've read some things in the past few days where you say that racing is your life and all that you know, and that you just can't see yourself doing anything else. Does that make this an especially unsettling time for you?

BW: Yeah, no doubt. It's kind of scary thinking about, Do I need to go back to school? Do I need to go out and fill out work applications? I didn't even take the SAT in high school, so I don't even have that type of score. It's definitely scary to think about.

Q: Has the NASCAR community been encouraging?

BW: Yeah, absolutely. I think the biggest one has been Jimmie Johnson. I ran into him the other day at the Hall of Fame. Afterwards I texted him and said, 'Hey man, good running into you today." He hit me back and said, "Keep digging and keep your head up." He's been encouraging, and I truly believe that something good will come out of this. And NASCAR really has been a huge supporter of mine, and it's cool just to be in NASCAR. I mean, I never thought I would be here to where I'm racing cars for a living, and all that. It was just something I grew up doing just because it was fun. All of a sudden it became a hobby and a way of life for me. NASCAR is pushing the diversity side of things and really trying to kick start that. They've chosen me and a couple of other minorities in the sport as the ambassadors for that. It's been an amazing experience.

Q: Being in the Cup car and being out there with the Cup guys and racing. Intimidating? Invigorating?

BW: A whole different scenario. The Cup guys... I mean, there is no more climbing. You're at the pinnacle level of NASCAR, and it shows. You're racing against those guys and they're not giving you one inch, one tenth, a half tenth, anything. They're putting it all out on the line for 400 miles each and every weekend, so it was pretty cool to get a little taste of that.

Q: Have you enjoyed your run in the Xfinity Series up to this season?

BW: Yeah, I have. We are winless still out of our three years of trying, but it wasn't from a lack of effort from everybody involved. It was just the circumstances we were put in, and the timing of things. It's still a very humbling opportunity for me to be able to just do what I love, which is racing, no matter what series I'm in. I'm always giving it 110 percent. Our first win in the Xfinity Series could be this weekend in Chicago. It's right around the corner. I feel it. It's all about just putting the stars in line.

Q: Ryan Blaney was telling me you guys basically grew up together in North Carolina, and you were both racing at the same level and trying to climb your way up the ladder...

BW: Ryan grew up about 45 minutes away from me. We raced against each other for years and years, and it's cool to be racing against each other at the top level now in NASCAR where we both wanted to be. We're making the most of it. We're the best of buds on and off the race track. We have fun every encounter we have together.

Q: How did you find your way into racing? Was your Dad into it? Was it something you guys just came across?

BW: Yeah, nobody in our family was really involved in NASCAR heavily. My cousin and uncle raced up in Nashville at the fairgrounds for a little bit. My Dad had happened to buy a Harley-Davidson, and the guy who fixed it up for him and made it look good raced go-karts out of the back of his motorcycle shop. He invited us out one weekend, and we got hooked. We were there just chilling in the stands and watching, and the next thing you know we had a go-kart the next weekend. I was nine years old when I started racing go-karts. I was a little, tiny thing then.