Netflix Hits Gas On Sports

The world’s biggest streaming service is creating a documentary series about Bubba Wallace, NASCAR’s only Black full-time driver.

Wallace, who has no top-10 finishes after the first 10 races of the season, drives for 23XI Racing. The team, which will feature prominently in the Netflix doc, is owned by Michael Jordan.

• Netflix has distributed documentaries about Pelé, IndyCar champion Scott Dixon, Ronda Rousey, and Vince Carter.
• Jordan was the subject of ESPN’s “The Last Dance,” which also aired on Netflix.
• Its “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” series is three seasons in and has helped double F1’s social media presence.

Wallace, 27, has had a unique impact on racing. In 2020, he successfully petitioned NASCAR to ban the Confederate flag at its events. Weeks later, amid racial justice protests around the country, he claimed he found a noose in his garage, but an FBI investigation found that the rope had been there before Wallace began using the garage.

Jordan thinks we could see Wallace begin to reach his potential as a driver during the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series.

“We would have not invested in him and picked him if he didn’t have the talent to win,” said Jordan. “By the end of the year, I think he’s going to have an opportunity and probably will win at least a couple of races.”