The Change in Bubba Wallace’s Lifestyle That May Have Helped Him to Reach the NASCAR Playoffs

Srijan Mandal | 29/08/2023
Aug 25, 2023; Daytona Beach, Florida, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace (23) on the grid prior to the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports

Physical exercise has almost become a part and parcel of modern-day motorsports. It wasn’t so early on, but over time, drivers realized that they would have to maintain both their mental and physical form in order to be in top form for their races ahead. Some of the earlier ones to start working out were drivers such as Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, and Mark Martin. Such also had been the case for Bubba Wallace lately.

Considering the physical standpoint and the amount of pressure that a human body takes in while in the race car, it’s evident that working out is definitely a way to improve one’s overall performance heading into a race weekend. And for Wallace, his comments on taking care of his fitness a couple of months ago have finally led him to a big career first.

Bubba Wallace explains what changed his perspective around working out

During an appearance on the Montgomery & Co. podcast, Wallace mentioned how he had not been performing well despite having spent a considerable time in the Cup Series. However, it was a text from his mother, that mentioned. “If you want something to change, you gotta change yourself.” It was after reading that text, that Wallace decided to head back home after the race and workout late at night.

Wallace then added, “I go to the gym for an hour and I’ve been working out. I have been working out three days a week ever since then. And you might as you might be like, ‘Alright, well, I haven’t worked out in over probably two years.'”

“So I kind of enjoy working out. I don’t want to speak too soon. I enjoy working out now. But before I was tired going into it, I was tired… It didn’t feel better, like, Oh, this is a waste of time. And I just I didn’t see anything out of it.”

“So it was, you know, it took me probably four days after that race… I was in the gym and I was like, man I feel so better and I was like okay, so I’ve been working out eating better, trying to cut a little bit of weight. So working on physical self and mental self has definitely helped out and we have been finishing better…”

Wallace achieves a major milestone in his NASCAR Cup career

After a run of consistent performances, and a much-improved display on road courses, Bubba Wallace was on the playoff bubble heading into the last race of the regular season at Daytona. He was one of the 17 drivers who could’ve made it to the next round of the season if there wasn’t a repeat winner.

And as it turned out, there was indeed a repeat winner. Chris Buescher won his third race of the season, which meant that Bubba Wallace made it to the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs for the first time in his career.

This year, there has clearly been a big improvement in Wallace’s craft. He hasn’t won a race yet but he has improved a big part of what was a point of criticism against him before this year, and that was his inconsistency. This year, Wallace has been consistent and without a doubt, a big part of that has to be his focus on his fitness.

Post Edited By: Shaharyar

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Srijan Mandal

Srijan Mandal is the Lead NASCAR Editor and Strategist at The Sportsrush with a wealth of experience and expertise in the world of motorsports. With several thousand articles under his belt over the years, he has established himself as a leading authority on all things racing. His passion for motorsports started at a young age, and he has dedicated his career to covering the sport in all its forms. He is an expert in various disciplines, including stock car racing, American motorsports, Formula 1, IndyCar, NHRA, MotoGP, WRC, WEC, and several more. But Srijan's love for racing goes beyond his writing. He actively competes in professional open-wheel sim racing, using '88' as his racing number. While he mostly participates in GT Endurance classes, he also ventures into Stock Car racing from time to time. In case, you wish to contact Srijan, kindly send an email to him at [email protected] or just DM him on Twitter.