DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR's next generation is still at the starting line, but the sport is eager to see a new face posing for photos in Victory Lane.
It can't come fast enough.
Two years ago, Jeff Gordon, who might have done more than any driver to spread stock car racing's popularity across the country, retired to the broadcasting booth. Last year saw NASCAR's biggest name, Dale Earnhardt Jr., hang up his racing helmet.
As NASCAR heads into today's Daytona 500 and a new season, it keeps mining its youth, hoping that a fresh driver can emerge to energize its brand and offset an aging fan base and diminishing TV viewership and ticket sales.
There are more than enough names to choose from: Chase Elliott, 22; Ryan Blaney, 24; Kyle Larson, 25; Daniel Suarez, 26; Ty Dillon, 25; Eric Jones, 21; and a handful of other neophytes.
By default, as well as by virtue of his surname, Elliott, the son of NASCAR champion Bill Elliott, has emerged as the face of this generation. But he is quick to point out that he is 0 for 78 in Cup races.
Speedweeks at Daytona have been promising at least. Alex Bowman, 24, who replaced Earnhardt in the No. 88 car for Hendrick Motorsports, will start the Daytona 500 from the pole position. Elliott and Blaney will be in the second row after winning the qualifying duels Thursday.
One driver in particular has the potential to do more than anyone to shake up the sport. A graduate of NASCAR's Drive for Diversity program, Darrell Wallace Jr., 24, could give stock car racing something it has never had before: an African-American star.
But that is not why Richard Petty brought Wallace onto his team. Late last season, Wallace, who goes by the nickname Bubba, got four rides with Richard Petty Motorsports. It was enough for Petty, one of NASCAR's most iconic names, to not only give Wallace a full-time ride, but also to give him his famed No. 43 race car to drive. Wallace is the first black driver to race full-time in the top NASCAR series since Wendell Scott in 1971.
Petty insisted, though, that he is colorblind when it comes to evaluating talent. Sure, it would be great if Wallace brings the sport into the African-American community, but as far as Petty is concerned, that's secondary.
"I hope he advances us as a race team," Petty said in an email. "I care about what Bubba can do behind the wheel for us. The rest, there are a lot of eyes on Bubba, but he's handling it well. I know come Sunday he'll be ready to get into a race car and just show his talent. If he does well, the rest will come and he'll grow our fan base."
Those eyes on Wallace, much as they were on Tiger Woods a generation ago, prompted Earnhardt to call him last week. The son of racing legend, Earnhardt knows all about the pressure of expectations.
"He told me that the next few weeks will basically be hell with all the off-the-track stuff," Wallace said. "But he said it'll all be worth it because I have an opportunity to do things outside the sport that not many other drivers will ever say they've had that kind of opportunity to do. So embrace it."
The child of a white father and a black mother, Wallace said that he does not quite understand why his skin color makes him newsworthy in 2018. But he knows that stock car racing, with its Southern roots and the Confederate flags that still wave from some fans' campers and cars, has not attracted an African-American audience.
"I'm just trying to carry that new face, to carry that new image to young people," Wallace said. "Obviously we've got to do a lot of work outside of the tracks, stepping out into our local communities. But there's also venturing out into a different market, into different avenues where the African-American culture lives. We all have to do better at that."
NASCAR's diversity has become an issue again after its only female racer, Danica Patrick, announced she will retire from the circuit after the Daytona 500. But Wallace is not the only driver who can energize an overlooked community. A native of Monterrey, Mexico, Suarez said he had noticed an uptick in social media messages from a variety of Latino countries.
"It's usually either people who tell me they're now following the sport because of me, or they've been fans and now they have a driver to root for," said Suarez, who is also a graduate of the Drive for Diversity program. "The potential is huge. This is the most diverse country in the world, but we have to improve diversity in NASCAR. If we can make the sport more diverse, we'll see the same thing with fans. More diversity on the racetrack will mean more diversity in the stands."
In the meantime, NASCAR waits, wondering who will emerge as its next star.
TODAY’S DAYTONA 500 LINEUP
ROW 1
88 Alex Bowman;Chevrolet;11 Denny Hamlin;Toyota
195.644 mph;BEST DAYTONA 500 23rd, 2014;195.092;BEST DAYTONA 500 1st, 2016
ROW 2
12 Ryan Blaney;Ford;9 Chase Elliott, Chevrolet
193.228;BEST DAYTONA 500 2nd, 2017;193.911;BEST DAYTONA 500 14th, 2017
ROW 3
22 Joey Logano;Ford;4 Kevin Harvick;Ford
193.811;BEST DAYTONA 500 1st, 2015;194.464;BEST DAYTONA 500 1st, 2007
ROW 4
43 Darrell Wallace Jr., Chevrolet;20 Erik Jones;Toyota
191.742;BEST DAYTONA 500 NA;194.473;BEST DAYTONA 500 39th, 2017
ROW 5
17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.;Ford;14 Clint Bowyer;Ford
194.045;BEST DAYTONA 500 7th, 2014;192.893;BEST DAYTONA 500 4th (twice)
ROW 6
41 Kurt Busch;Ford;18 Kyle Busch;Toyota
192.810 mph;BEST DAYTONA 500 1st, 2017;194;704 mph;BEST DAYTONA 500 3rd, 2016
ROW 7
31 Ryan Newman;Chevrolet;3 Austin Dillon, Chevrolet
192.242 mph;BEST DAYTONA 500 1st, 2008;193.357 mph;BEST DAYTON 500 9th (twice)
ROW 8
38 David Ragan;Ford;21 Paul Menard;Ford
No speed;BEST DAYTONA 500 5th, 2007;193.199;BEST DAYTONA 500 5th, 2017
ROW 9
19 Daniel Suarez;Toyota;6 Trevor Bayne;Ford
194.468 mph;BEST DAYTONA 500 29th, 2017;192.386;BEST DAYTONA 500 1st, 2011
ROW 10
1 Jamie McMurray;Chevrolet;47 AJ Allmendinger;Chevrolet
192.160 mph;BEST DAYTONA 500 1st, 2010;190.904 mph;BEST DAYTONA 500 3rd (twice)
ROW 11
37 Chris Buescher;Chevrolet;34 Michael McDowell;Ford
191.103 mph;BEST DAYTONA 500 35th, 2017;191.902 mph;BEST DAYTONA 500 9th, 2013
ROW 12
13 Ty Dillon;Chevrolet;78 Martin Truex Jr.;Toyota
191.188 mph;BEST DAYTONA 500 12th, 2016;191.481 mph;BEST DAYTONA 500 2nd, 2016
ROW 13
62 Brendan Gaughan;Chevrolet;95 Kasey Kahne;Chevrolet
189.881 mph;BEST DAYTONA 500 11th, 2017;192.744 mph;BEST DAYTONA 500 7th (3 times)
ROW 14
00 Jeffrey Earnhardt;Chevrolet;7 Danica Patrick;Chevrolet
188.025 mph;BEST DAYTONA 500 26th, 2017;191.160;BEST DAYTON 500 8th, 2013
ROW 15
51 Justin Marks;Chevrolet;96 D.J. Kennington;Toyota
189.617 mph;BEST DAYTONA 500 NA;188.096 mph;BEST DAYTONA 500 36th, 2017
ROW 16
2 Brad Keslowski;Ford;72 Corey LaJoie;Chevrolet
192.728;BEST DAYTONA 500 3rd, 2014;186.058 mph;BEST DAYTONA 500 24th, 2017
ROW 17
24 William Byron;Chevrolet;23 Gray Gaulding;Toyota
194.458 mph;BEST DAYTONA 500 Rookie;No speed;BEST DAYTONA 500 Rookie
ROW 18
48 Jimmie Johnson;Chevrolet;32 Matt DiBenedetto;Ford
194.734 mph;BEST DAYTONA 500 1st (twice);188.778 mph;BEST DAYTONA 500 9th, 2017
ROW 19
10 Aric Almirola;Ford;42 Kyle Larson;Chevrolet
193.386 mph;BEST DAYTONA 500 4th, 2017;192.238;BEST DAYTON 500 7th, 2016
ROW 20
92 David Gilliland;Ford;66 Mark Thompson;Ford
187.954 mph;BEST DAYTONA 500 3rd, 2011;186.463 mph;BEST DAYTONA 500 Rookie
Sports on 02/18/2018