Bubba Wallace has long carried one of NASCAR’s most polarizing fanbases, but his on-track growth over the past few seasons is hard to ignore. Once known primarily for his skills on superspeedways like Daytona, Wallace has now begun to make his mark on other tracks as well.
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His Brickyard 400 victory at Indianapolis, where he outdueled Kyle Larson in multiple restarts, was a turning point, and his Iowa comeback only reinforced that momentum. Veteran crew chief Steve Letarte now sees Wallace as a potential dark horse in the upcoming playoffs.
With only three races remaining before the postseason, Wallace continues to sharpen his consistency. While he didn’t repeat his Victory Lane feat at Iowa, his strong drive pushed him up to 10th in the standings. His afternoon, however, was anything but smooth.
After tumbling as far back as 32nd and battling an issue that nearly ended his day, the No. 23 team somehow held the car together. Wallace clawed back through the field, ultimately contending near the front before crossing the line in sixth.
Letarte, breaking down Wallace’s Iowa charge with a chart that showed a continuous climb after the final two pit stops, was unequivocal in his praise. He said, “I would just bring this to the meeting and say, ‘This is the team that has to be around in the playoffs.’
“Because do I think the #23 is going to outrun the #5 every week? I mean they can. Do I think every week, I think that would be false. Like they’re not the favorite if you were looking at the betting odds. But this sort of tenacity will get you to advance.
“And if the others trip up, if the favorites stub their toe, you could take advantage of it. This was a big day for the #23 coming off, ’cause it would have been really easy, especially off the win and mostly throw it in. But they didn’t. They took the momentum of a win and made it into one of the best recoveries of the year.”
Bubba Wallace was 2 laps down after replacing a toe link. He charged through the field to finish 6th.
Is this the 23 team we should expect in the Playoffs?#NASCAR #InsideTheRace pic.twitter.com/O1r3OrXowE
— Steve Letarte (@SteveLetarte) August 4, 2025
Passing proved a tall order on Iowa’s 0.875-mile oval, but Wallace defied the odds to steal a top-10 finish. Early on, his car lacked speed, leaving him outside the top 10 and 13th at the end of Stage 1. Stage 2 brought more trouble when a poorly timed caution left him 25th, and the final stage seemed to unravel completely.
Contact with John Hunter Nemechek bent the right-rear toe link, forcing repairs that dropped him two laps down. Then, fortune finally turned his way. A string of cautions allowed Wallace to regain both laps, with his final free pass setting up a last restart on fresh tires. From there, he put on a clinic, slicing through the field to sixth over the closing 64 laps, securing one of the best top-10 finishes of his Cup career.
Short tracks were once Wallace’s shortcomings, but 2025 tells a different story. He finished seventh at Dover and third at Martinsville earlier this season, proving he can now hold his own in the tight, technical battles that define the discipline.
For the first time in his career, Wallace enters the final stretch with breathing room before the playoffs, giving the No. 23 team the flexibility to experiment with aggressive strategy calls.
With three races left before the cutoff, Wallace now stands on the brink of achieving his first multi-win season, a feat that once seemed out of reach but now looks entirely within his grasp.
