Bubba Wallace on facing the “angel and devil” on his shoulder

Winning at the NASCAR Cup level is no easy feat, especially when it’s been 100 races since your last win and you have playoff points to worry about. Oh, and imagine Kyle Larson directly behind you.

But Bubba Wallace did not buckle under the pressure, hanging on through two overtime restarts to win one of NASCAR’s most prestigious races. Wallace also has his detractors, which he has to deal with on a weekly basis. While some root against him purely for sporting reasons, some of it is politically and racially charged. Wallace has taught himself to shut out that noise, no matter how loud the boos are.

Dealing with the boos

“It’s sports, right? You’re going to have people booing, people cheering,” said Wallace. “I had a guy today call me a punk. I was like, Okay, punks get trophies, I guess. It’s sports. Some different than others, but I definitely heard the cheers, and I appreciated that.

“It’s something I’ve never — not never — something I’ve paid more attention to in the recent year, years, maybe months. I know there’s a lot of Bubba Wallace fans out there and a lot of support. They try to combat the naysayers and all of this stuff. Does anybody know where the goal post got moved to now? Did it get moved yet? It’s rigged? Oh, of course.

“I like to have fun with fans. It is what it is, but I do really appreciate the support deep down. As a guy who used to struggle with the boos for sure, I’m just wondering why. Now I understand it’s just sports, and people are going to have the drivers they like, the drivers they hate, the driver they want to see win, the drivers they want to see crash, and we just go out and compete.

“I will say I didn’t hear any noise today before the race. That was different. That was cool.”

Wallace also had a sense that Sunday was going to be a good race, even before the green flag dropped. “Today was a surreal feeling,” he explained. “Pre-race, I told Dale [Earnhardt Jr.] and those guys on TV, like, I rode around under the parade lap in the truck, and I just didn’t hear any noise. It was very weird, something I’ve never experienced. I had the mentality that this was ours to take today.”

Staying focused as the pressure mounted

Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota

Photo by: Jeffrey Brown Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

But even if it was easy to shut out the external noise, keeping his inner thoughts at bay was another battle entirely.

“I think that’s my biggest downfall,” said Wallace. “We’re all human, and we’re all super hard on ourselves. You guys know how hard I am on myself. At the same time, I was combatting, and I’m like, F****** right, we can do this. It was kind of like the angel and devil on your shoulder. It wasn’t all negative. But to even have that thought, it’s like, Man, come on, focus.

“That all went away on the restarts because it was time to really focus and get the job done. Yeah, just still working out those kinks and growing as a person. It’s just really cool to be sitting here in front of you guys, so I appreciate it.”

It all worked out in the end, and now, Wallace is one of just 17 who can say they have won the Brickyard 400. He is also playoff-bound for the first time in two years, earning 23XI Racing its first victory of the 2025 season. And all of this comes in the middle of a lawsuit that has currently left the team without charters.