Indianapolis – Bubba Wallace climbed out of car No. 23 Sunday, snatched his fists, found his family and tasted every precious moment of the historic brick factory 400 victory.
Every minute he deserves.
The 31-year-old Wallace overcame a faint 18-minute rain delay, two tempting speeds, fearing late fuel volumes and hard-working defending champion Kyle Larson, started back to back, becoming the first black driver to win a big race at the Indianapolis Motor's 2.5-mile egg. No black driver won the Indianapolis 500, Formula One raced on the track's road.
“It’s really cool,” Wallace said. “From the fourth round, I know I'm going there – unless we run out of gas. I'm surprised I'm not crying like a little baby.”
His third career NASCAR Cup victory earned Wallace’s first win in the four-game championship events in the series, with the other titles being the Daytona 500, the Coca-Cola 600 and the Southern 500. It also reached a 100-unwinning streak in Kansas in 2022 and secured the playoffs. His only other victory was in Talladega in 2021.
The final gap was 0.222 seconds, but that didn't measure the shock he faced.
Bubba Wallace's Brickyard 400 victory was his first win in one of NASCAR's four championship games. Justin Casterline/Getty Images
Larson cut the deficit by 5.057 seconds, with 14 laps down to three seconds, and 6 laps left, the yellow flag came out and it rained. The car then rolled to the stop at Pit Lane, leaving four laps, forcing Wallace to think and rethink his restart strategy.
“I kept wondering if we were going? Aren't we?” he said. “I would say I'm more inclined to 'I know we're going back to the game. Get ready. Don't be complacent here.'”
Wallace ensured that.
He beat Larson on his first reboot, only to have a crash behind him, forcing his crew to recalculate whether they had enough fuel to finish the race or whether he needed to give up the lead and refuel.
There was no choice in Wallace's mind.
“The first thing that comes to my mind is, 'We're here again.' “But then I said, 'I want to win this one straight away. I want to go back to the competition. 'We are here. ”
He once again defeated Larson to start and exit, preventing Larson from becoming the fourth champion of the game.
The victory also eased Wallace’s frustration on Saturday, when he spent most of the qualifying rounds on the interim only to see Chase Briscoe finish first in the final match of the conference.
On Sunday, he made sure there were no duplications, which provided more push for the 23XI Racing team, co-owned by basketball Hall of Fame member Michael Jordan and last week's race champion Denny Hamlin as it continues to fight Nascar in its charter status.
“The last 20 laps had ups and downs, and I told myself 'You won't be able to do it,'” Wallace said. “Once I saw that it was Larson, I knew he won here last year and he could be the best on the court. So to beat the best, we have to be the best today.”
Another big game – the season challenge – was given to Ty Gibbs, who had a better car in qualifying and race day than Ty Dillon. Gibbs ended its 21st edition, winning the mad single-elimination tournament founded in March and earning a $1 million prize.
Dillon was the 32nd place and the final driver's shot after he was a surprise championship entrant, finishing 28th.
“They brought me money guns and they got stuck, so I decided to throw all the money to the fans, and they were all fighting for it,” Gibbs said. “But it was so cool. It was a cool opportunity.”