Darrell Wallace Jr. was the first black driver to win a NASCAR race since the 1960s when he took the checkered flag in a Truck Series race at Martinsville last year.

The 20-year-old Wallace, who goes by Bubba, has openly talked of becoming the Tiger Woods of NASCAR — the great black star who can transcend the sport and prove people of all colors can race. He rebounded from a crash in the season-opening Truck race at Daytona to finish second at Martinsville last month.

“We’re trying to carry that momentum from Martinsville on to Kansas, so it’s a little tough,” Wallace said. “But I’m trying to have fun as much as I can, getting in and out of the shop as much as I can, checking on the progress of all the trucks that are being built.”

Wallace drives the No. 54 Toyota for Kyle Busch Motorsports, which has perks. He can learn from one of the best drivers across all three NASCAR series. But the drawback is that Busch usually dominates when he jumps down to the Truck Series. Busch won five times last season, has one win this year and 36 in his career.

“The most frustrating thing about last year is looking back at how many races we were faster than Kyle,” Wallace said. “Every race it seemed like we wrecked out, he would win. So there were a couple of races that we should have had on our win list.”

NASCAR has initiated several pushes toward boosting the number of minorities in the sport. There’s a Drive for Diversity program that paid some dividends with Wallace and Kyle Larson after struggling to find racers for the top series. The program is 11 years old and was designed to attract minorities and women to the sport in all fields, from the track to the front office.