This season has been different for Bubba Wallace since he reached the playoffs on the strength of a win rather than points. And he has kept his foot on the gas after the regular season, too. He finished P6 at Darlington in the playoff opener and P8 at Gateway in the second race.
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However, Wallace still is not one of the favorites to go all the way. That status invariably goes to the popular stars on the grid. Before heading to Bristol for the Round of 16 cutoff, Wallace joined Jeff Gluck’s 12 Questions and spoke about a change that he believes could catapult his popularity to new heights.
In his view, such a shift could even elevate him beyond some of the sport’s household names. Wallace pointed to Formula One stars like Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, stating that wherever they go, the spotlight follows. NASCAR drivers, he argued, don’t enjoy that same recognition.
Even fan favorites like Chase Elliott or Ryan Blaney may walk unnoticed in many places. For Wallace, the missing ingredient is “star power.”
“I think it’s star power, but I don’t know how to fix the star power. You need an athlete where people want to tune in and watch how that person does,” Wallace said.
“If I could go on a hot streak here and win six out of the last nine… because I’m not tooting my own horn, but if you dropped the three names I just said, myself, Chase, or Ryan, in New York, I’m getting recognized first,” the 23XI Racing driver elaborated on the logic behind his take.
“You have the ability to go beyond our little bubble into the mainstream. Yes, but it takes winning. I have to win to be able to do that, and not just one in every three years,” he added.
Before the quotes from this one get taken out of context on every clickbait site, you can read it for yourself. Here’s 12 Questions with @BubbaWallace: https://t.co/wlMx13f2rr
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) September 10, 2025
In earlier eras, drivers like Dale Earnhardt Sr., Richard Petty, and Jeff Gordon carried that aura. Fans tuned in not only to watch them dominate with their aggressive on-track tactics, but also to see who might dare to topple them.
However, that aura of NASCAR drivers has faded, dulled by the parity introduced with today’s cars and sharpened by the depth of talent across the field.
