DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Richard Petty rarely visits pit road after a race anymore and usually with good reason. The Hall of Fame driver’s eponymous race team has toiled for decades in mediocrity, with checkered flags all but extinct.

Bubba at Daytona changed the game.

Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. had driven the iconic No. 43 car to a third-place finish in a Daytona 500 qualifying race, setting off a celebration for Richard Petty Motorsports almost worthy of winning NASCAR’s marquee race itself. 

The King strolled to the pits and hugged Wallace. The 80-year-old Petty wrapped his arm around Wallace , and they walked off smiling toward what each side hoped was the start of a fruitful alliance.

“I just had a guard walk me from pit road to the media center. His name is Richard Petty. I’ve never seen him so excited in my life,” Wallace said.

That Wallace can energize Petty may symbolize as much a true passing of the torch as NASCAR could want: Petty and his deep kinship with old-school fans and the 24-year-old Wallace, a video game playing, social media darling about to make history as the first black driver since 1969 in the Daytona 500.   READ MORE