Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin faced skepticism when they signed Bubba Wallace to 23XI Racing, but the No. 23 driver silenced all critics with a commanding Brickyard 400 win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
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The success marked Wallace’s third career win and snapped a 100-race drought dating back to Sept. 11, 2022, at Kansas Speedway. Speaking with TNT Sports after the race, Wallace shared an emotional and unfiltered account of the final laps from inside the car.
With his trademark humor, he opened by saying, “What I’m about to say sounds like BS, but it wasn’t too hot in the car.” Then, visibly emotional, he admitted, “You’re the leader with 20 to go and you’re like, ‘Oh, damn.’ It felt like the race just started. Here we go.
“And I hate that I start counting the eggs before they hatch. I start thinking of who to thank, how big the celebration’s going to be, and then I go in and miss a corner… And my car was going extremely loose, and I cannot drive these things loose at all.
“And I started thinking like, ‘Oh man, this is it. This is over with.’ Then I started thinking about my son. Started thinking about what MJ would say. And all of a sudden, the car got better, and it was like, ‘Oh, okay. This is our race still.’
“So those last 20 laps was just a surreal moment for me to just be a part of and be in the passenger seat… I’m extremely worn out mentally, physically.”
Delighted to hold off a driver of Larson’s caliber, Wallace reflected, “I look in the mirror and I’m like, ‘Here we go with the #5.’… I thought under that first green-white-checkered, to be the best, you have to beat the best. We can all sit up here and say Kyle Larson is the best at the time right now. And it’s an honor and a privilege to race with him.”
In closing, Wallace made sure to thank those closest to him, including his parents. He thanked his mom, who, according to him, might have been praying for his fuel, and his dad, pausing as tears streamed down his face.
Starting second, Wallace outpaced the “best” Kyle Larson, leading 30 laps, including the final 26, in a race that stretched eight laps beyond the scheduled 160. With his fuel reserves in question, Wallace endured a late rain shower and two overtime restarts to seal the win and punch his ticket to the playoffs.
He held a 4.5-second lead over Larson with six laps remaining when, just after two laps, a sudden shower triggered the fifth caution of the day. The rain quickly passed, and after a short delay for track drying, Wallace surged ahead of Larson on the first overtime restart.
A five-car crash on the backstretch forced the race into a second extra period, but Wallace held his ground, nursed his fuel, and crossed the line 0.222 seconds ahead of Larson to claim the crown-jewel win.
