Bubba Wallace Driving Famous Richard Petty 43 Car Next Year

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – Darrell Wallace Jr. will drive Richard Petty’s iconic No. 43 full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series next year.

The team did not immediately disclose a car manufacturer or sponsor in Wednesday’s announcement.

The 24-year-old Wallace, more commonly referred to by his nickname “Bubba,” became the first black driver to race at NASCAR’s top level since 2006 when he replaced an injured Aric Almirola earlier this year.

Wallace won the Truck Series race at Martinsville in 2013 to become the first black driver to win at a national NASCAR series event since Wendell Scott in 1963. NASCAR says there have been at least seven black drivers in its series previous to Wallace, including Scott, who raced from 1961-73 in Cup, Willy T. Ribbs, who did three Cup races in 1986, and Bill Lester, who raced sporadically from 1999 until 2007 at all three national levels.

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