The exhibition-style opening to the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season saw 23XI Racing regular Bubba Wallace ruffle some feathers at the iconic Bowman Gray Stadium. With this year’s Clash returning to the ‘Madhouse,’ the 200-lap-long race saw Wallace end his day with a top-5 finish. However, that did not come without some paint being traded, typical of the bullring-style racing at the venue.
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Wallace was seen racing for position during the race when he spun RFK Racing owner-operator Brad Keselowski past the halfway mark. This happened when Wallace trailed Keselowski, who was trying to get in front of the #23 Toyota driver and capitalize on getting in line with the inside lane.
“I hate that I got into the #6. I didn’t want to get a top-five finish that way. He was doing everything he could to get down and I got greedy and wanted to fill the hole. I really didn’t think I hit him that hard, but obviously I did, so apologize for that,” Wallace elaborated after the event.
Brad Keselowski gets spun out by Bubba Wallace
A few other cars spin in a chain reaction trying to avoid pic.twitter.com/lxhdY6wKH8
— Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) February 3, 2025
The Mobile, Alabama native also mentioned that he and the #23 crew need to find that little bit of extra speed in their machinery and perhaps behind the wheel as the team looks to convert top-5 finishes into race wins, especially after Wallace enters his third season without a win this year.
He added, “We were still missing it on something. This tire was also from Martinsville in the fall. I didn’t like the car then. I don’t like the car now, but you have to fight for it. I need to look back on what I need to do better with this tire. I think it is more me than the car – just getting the potential, but all-in-all, it was a fun night.”
Brad Keselowski ended up finishing the race in P21 as a result of his coming together with Wallace, severely hampering his chances of challenging at the front for the $2 million prize money, which eventually went to Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott. The #9 driver held off challenges from Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney late in the race to clinch victory.
Moving on from Bowman Gray, NASCAR will go live from the famed Daytona International Speedway’s tri-oval for the 67th running of the Daytona 500, a race that will be seeing talent such as IndyCar’s Helio Castroneves also challenge for victory. The 200-lap-long race goes live from the venue on Sunday, February 16, 2024, at 2:30 pm ET.
