Bubba Wallace entered Sunday’s Brickyard 400 with no guarantee that he’d make it to the playoffs, battling a winless streak of 100 races. But somehow, he made the fuel last till the very end and kept a charging Kyle Larson at bay through a late rain delay and two overtimes to win the crown jewel race. The mental resilience he showed to achieve this feat was tremendously high.
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Wallace has been transparent about his mental struggles in the past. Notably, he went into a zone of depression when his best friend, Ryan Blaney, won the Cup Series championship in 2023. He has always known that he has the potential to do great things, and the failure to reach his self-imposed goals hurt him more than anything. This emotion is what filled him with self-doubt on Sunday.
He told the press post-race, “The biggest thing that gets lost is believing in self. I’ll say those 20 laps, there were ups and downs. I was telling myself, ‘You’re not gonna be able to do it.’ I hate that I’m that way, but I pushed myself to be the absolute best.”
It was in those 20 laps that he took the lead and had to keep Larson behind him. With six laps to go, NASCAR called a caution for raindrops. The showers led to the sanctioning body calling a red flag and bringing the cars to pit road with just four laps left to race.
With his win @IMS Sunday – @BubbaWallace snapped a 100-race winless streak that dated to 2022. He overcame a late rain delay, two overtimes, fuel worries and @KyleLarsonRacin who charged but came up short.
This, in deadline room from Bubba post win explains the emotion: pic.twitter.com/rTeZxL2Jzd
— Claire B Lang (@ClaireBLang) July 28, 2025
On the first overtime restart, Wallace cleared Larson. But a wreck between Zane Smith and Tyler Reddick forced another restart. Wallace passed the Hendrick Motorsports driver for the second time and then managed to make his fuel last till he reached the checkered flag.
Wallace’s high praise for Larson
Wallace and Larson haven’t always been the best of friends. Their heated confrontation at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2022 remains a telling moment in NASCAR history. But the 23XI Racing driver had nothing but admiration and words of praise for his competitor after besting him at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The last thing that a driver in the lead of a race wants to see in his rear-view mirror is Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro. Holding him off to reach Victory Lane is a task next to impossible. And that’s precisely why Wallace takes pride in the fact that he was able to win the Brickyard 400 after topping Larson in a direct battle.
Wallace said, “He is arguably the best in the field. I have no problem saying that. I respect the hell out of what he does, how he drives. He pushes us all to be that good. To beat the best, we had to be the best today.”
23XI Racing is in a legal rut right now, facing hits in the antitrust lawsuit saga against NASCAR. Wallace’s victory will come as a temporary relief for the team owners and employees.
