“He Motivates Me”: Bubba Wallace Opens Up on Michael Jordan’s Support After His Major NASCAR Stride

After having qualified in the playoffs for the first time in his Cup Series career, not many were envisioning seeing Bubba Wallace being able to avoid the first round of eliminations. After the first two races at Darlington and Kansas, Wallace found himself in the bottom 4 positions, heading into Bristol.

However, after the race at Bristol, Wallace has proved many of his doubters wrong, which would’ve been quite special for Wallace considering he did it in the presence of his legendary boss Michael Jordan. Later, Wallace was asked about how Jordan reacted to him taking another major stride in his NASCAR career.

Wallace also expressed how he felt regarding such a major achievement in his career.

Bubba Wallace explains Michael Jordan’s reaction to his major playoff achievement

Speaking with Sirius XM NASCAR Radio, Wallace stated, “I haven’t talked to him (Michael Jordan) yet. He might be already back home on a jet. Hahahaha. Super cool, super cool to have him here.”

He entered Bristol -19 and left with the chance to fight for three more weeks.

🔐 @BubbaWallace is onto the Round of 12 in his first career #NASCARPlayoffs with @23XIRacing.

😥 “I thought Daytona was stressful. This may have topped it.” pic.twitter.com/3vtQE8TK47

— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) September 17, 2023

“You don’t even have to say anything. You know, he knows that he motivates me and motivates our whole team to go out and execute, and that’s what we did. So proud of all of our guys and proud of the effort 23 groups strong mentally and physically, and we’ll show on that so just got to keep going.”

Wallace says Bristol was more stressful than Daytona

While there is a lot of stress for the drivers heading into a race like the Daytona 500, for Wallace, being able to make the cut for the next round of the playoffs would have taken up a lot of stress on him.

During the interview, Wallace mentioned that he was wide awake at three in the morning before the Bristol race. When the reporter asked if it was due to stress, Wallace acknowledged that there may have been an element of stress involved. He later added, “I thought Daytona was stressful. This may have topped it.”

As Wallace has advanced to the round of eight, his performances at the upcoming Texas Motor Speedway and beyond will be something to witness. The main question now is whether the 23XI Racing driver can maintain his current trajectory or if he will be eliminated in the next round.