NASCAR Cup Series drivers Ryan Newman and Bubba Wallace were among the top trending searches in the U.S. on Google in 2020.
According to trending search data from Google’s Year in Search, Newman - who survived a harrowing crash in February’s Daytona 500 - was ranked fifth in the ‘People’ category. That category was topped by U.S. President-elect Joe Biden.
Newman was also the top-ranked person in the ‘Athlete’ category.
Last month, the Roush Fenway Racing driver reflected on how the crash changed him as a person in an interview with NBC Sports’ Nate Ryan.
“I’m more giving than I ever was,” said Newman, who recently become a spokesman for organ donation through the Indiana Donor Network’s Driven2SaveLives program. “I’m more empathetic than I ever was. I’m probably a better dad. I’m a better person because I had that moment.
“So I don’t think it’s changed me, but I think it’s exaggerated the positive things that could have been me in the past, and I appreciate that. It’s changed me only in the way that it’s made me a better person.”
Wallace was ranked third in the ‘Athlete’ category after his efforts to help NASCAR become more inclusive during the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement made him a new face of the sport.
Those efforts, along with his charitable work through his Live To Be Different Foundation, led to Wallace receiving the 2020 Comcast Community Champion award.
He also received the Stan Musial Award for Extraordinary Character, which honors “an individual who demonstrates remarkable poise, perseverance and overall sportsmanship.”
Next season, Wallace joins forces with NBA legend Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin as driver for their new 23XI Racing team.
In regards to the data, “trending” queries are searches that had a high spike in traffic over a sustained period in 2020 as compared to 2019.