Nelly and his Vokal clothing label have purchased
part of Billy Ballew Motorsports for the rest of the NASCAR truck season.
Nelly’s new truck will feature the Vokal clothing
label logo and will be introduced in time for the Darlington 200 truck event.
"We’ve kind of been running on stealth mode
for the last few weeks," Nelly’s representative Michael Warmack told the
Associated Press.
For now, they will continue with Bellew’s current
driver, NASCAR truck vet Andy Houston, who will drive for the Atlanta based
Vokal Racing Team until they find a minority driver.
"Nelly is a race fan, he’s been one for
a long time," Warmack continued. "We’re very excited about him becoming
a team owner."
Nelly joins a handful of African-American’s who
have tried to either drive or own their own NASCAR trucks or cars.
Julius Erving, Jackie Joyner-Kersee are among
those who have tried and failed.
It has been almost 40 years since Wendell Scott
became the first and only African-American to win a race in NASCAR’s top series.
"He thinks he can help bring more minorities
to this sport," Warmack said. "We’re happy we can be a part of this
with NASCAR."
