by Blair S. Walker
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — When Jordan Wallace was a five-year-old, his grandmother bought him a little, battery-powered Mercedes car. She may have regretted that move, because Wallace immediately hopped into his miniature whip and practically drove the wheels off it.
Convinced that Upper Marlboro, Maryland, had never produced a racer with his combination of awe-inspiring speed and daring, Wallace began looking for pre-pubescent butts to kick.
“I tried to race the girl down the street in her Barbie Corvette and she whupped me,” Wallace said, still incredulous 31 years later. “And after that, I was like, ‘I gotta get this figured out.’ Ever since then, I’ve been on a charge.”
One that had Wallace swaddled in a helmet and Nomex driving suit as he blasted a 510-horsepower Porsche 911 GT3 Cup around the 3.36-mile, 19-turn Miami International Autodrome road circuit, sounding like a bellowing, deep-voiced hound from hell.
Welcome to the Porsche Carrera Cup North America racing series, Jordan Wallace’s world. He found himself onstage with the globe-trotting Formula One circus, which was in town for the Miami Grand Prix. Formula One promoters like to have other kinds of racing cars circulating tracks while F-1 cars are being tweaked in their garages.
Wallace is an admirer of Formula One, but at 36 is too old to be dreaming about an F-1 seat. Instead, Wallace wants to move up to the Batmobile-like, fiendishly quick sports cars that compete in famous endurance races.
“The ultimate goal is to win the Daytona 24 Hours, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Sebring 12 Hours, and to be the first African American to win all of those,” Wallace said. “I’ve got a ton of work ethic, a ton of desire and I think I’m showing that I’m pretty quick.”
That last statement is all fact and no brag, because Wallace came within one-hundredth of second of being the fastest qualifier for his Miami International Autodrome race. To put that in perspective, it takes the average person between one-tenth to four-tenths of a second to blink their eyes.
A resident of Austin, Texas, these days Wallace keeps a roof over his head with his racing activities, and by working as a driving instructor at a nearby race track. When it comes to the Kellymoss/Vision Motorsports Racing Porsche he’s piloting in eight races this year, his sponsor is Davis Infrastructure, a Northern Virginia business that builds data centers.
“I grew up thinking race drivers were aliens, because no one in my family, or in my culture, was in this sport,” Wallace said. “Now I’m part-owner in the team that I’m driving for. Not only a Black driver, but a Black owner. We’re really trying to grow that side of the sport, as well.”
(Blair S. Walker formerly wrote for USA Today’s ‘Money’ section, and has penned seven books and was also is a professional race car driver. For the past three years, Blair has been a guest contributor for BlackPressUSA at the Formula One Miami Grand Prix held annually in Miami Gardens.)
