When you trust the process, everything falls in place. Bubba Wallace trusted it even when things wildly spiraled out of control. The 23XI Racing driver was winless for 100 races going into Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Since his last victory at Kansas Speedway in September 2022, Wallace cracked the playoffs only once in three years. However, in 2025, there was added pressure besides his career doldrums.
23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports are currently embroiled in a NASCAR lawsuit. Although Michael Jordan filed it first in October 2024, the 23XI co-owner is having it rough. Both teams lost their charter security barely a week ago. So Bubba Wallace crossed heaven and hell to win Sunday’s race.
Bubba Wallace could see the zenith of his career
The lack of a race win usually does not bode well for a NASCAR Cup Series driver. Racing in the highest echelon of the sport comes with not only glamor but also responsibility. Bubba Wallace was riding a thin line, with multiple mishaps. He faced a wreck in Atlanta, and a brake rotor punctured his tire in Pocono. Hamlin issued warnings in late June, expecting his drivers to win. Throw in the NASCAR lawsuit to this dire situation, and you have a real recipe for stress for Wallace. Starting from Dover, both 23XI cars have been racing as open cars, having no advantage of the financial benefits of chartered cars. In this unstable situation, Wallace almost reached the end of the road.
But he picked himself back up. Bubba Wallace clinched his career’s third Cup Series victory at the Brickyard 400 race. More than celebrating his crown jewel victory, Wallace focused on offering a vent to his team’s ongoing struggles. He said in a post-race presser: “There’s a lot of expectation on you to deliver at 23XI, having the right people, having the right sponsors. It takes everybody there at Airspeed to have days and have moments like these. And yes, there’s a certain level of expectation to win. So for not being able to do it for almost three years, you really start to doubt yourself and wonder, like, is this it? After the contract’s up, is this it? I mean, I still got a couple of years left, and hopefully, this gives me another year at least.”
What is more, Bubba Wallace reminded everybody about where he is racing. In staving off the hard charges of defending race winner Kyle Larson across two overtime restarts, Wallace proved how worthy he is of the Cup Series. He continued, “It doesn’t matter if we were in our backyard for the Cup race, it’s a race. It’s so hard to freaking win at the top level…The exposure levels when you start out racing – when you race go-karts, you’re exposed to Bandos. When you race Bandos, you’re exposed to Legend cars, so forth and so on. When you race Xfinity, you’re exposed to Cup…You race Cup, what are you exposed to? Retirement. That’s it, you’re at the final rung of the ladder.”
The ecstatic feeling of winning at NASCAR’s premier level is undeniable. But for Wallace, it is even better with the unique individuals in his vicinity.
Crediting everybody who helped him
Bubba Wallace’s personal journey has been remarkable in itself. Yet the people who helped him through his struggles also deserve special recognition. First off, Michael Jordan. The 6-time NBA champion has been Wallace’s mentor since he first joined 23XI. All of those inspirational mentorship sessions played off during the final 20 laps of the Brickyard 400. Wallace admitted that had he not remembered Jordan’s words of resilience, he may have yielded to Kyle Larson’s fierce run. Jordan was, unfortunately, not present to witness the victory. Instead, he made a congratulatory call to the No. 23 Toyota driver and promised to drink in his spirit.
Bubba Wallace was content with just that, as he gleefully said post-race, “He was just so proud. I said I wish you were here for it, he was like, he’s going to have a drink or two for me tonight. So we’ll be celebrating together in spirit.” Wallace was overjoyed to spend the win with his wife Amanda and son Becks Hayden. The rest of the 23XI team also made him feel blessed. Wallace continued, “All these guys, all these men and women at Airspeed for making this possible. And I don’t see my wife and my kid, but welcome to Victory Lane, Becks. That’s pretty cool.”
Clearly, Bubba Wallace could hardly keep his emotions in check after winning in Indianapolis. Bowing into the playoffs with a regular season victory for the first time, we can barely wait to see Wallace fetch more laurels.
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