Bubba Wallace, a popular NASCAR driver, recently spoke about his win at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He mentioned an aspect he realized after the celebrations died down.

The Brickyard 400 win by Bubba Wallace in 2025 was a historic event in the life of both NASCAR and Wallace. In a dramatic finish in a double-overtime race in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Wallace claimed the first black win in a major race on the most historic 2.5-mile oval track. The victory ended a 100-race winless streak for him in the Cup Series and was his first-ever crown jewel win, which got him and the team 23XI Racing, co-owned by basketball great Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, into the playoffs.

Bubba Wallace, after the historic win, remembered the importance of his win as the first African-American to kiss the bricks.

“We’re in the playoffs, we’ve done it, we’ve won after I’ve told myself so many times, I’ve questioned myself, can I do this again? All that was gone in that moment. I didn’t realize the African American side until hours later and it’s still incredible. I think what gets lost in translation though and a lot of people get offended and try to downplay it. I get it, right? I am biracial and I love both sides of who I am. And so at the end of the day, I am a race car driver and enjoy where I’m at in life and who I am as a person,” he said during media availability.

The win was tough, and it caused an 18-minute rain delay, fuel issues, and tight restarts with a very small win at the finish line; the margin of victory was a very narrow 0.222-second. When Wallace discussed the race, he talked about his strong feelings after his achievement. He went out and kissed the bricks on the front stretch with his team after the race–an Indianapolis rite of passage–and then rejoiced with his family, including his little boy, something new as a father of a son himself in this race.

Bubba Wallace shares a new mentality shift after getting locked in the 2025 playoffs

After clinching his spot in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs with a win at the Brickyard 400, Bubba Wallace shared a new mentality for the remainder of the season. Now free from the pressure of securing playoff qualification, Wallace outlined his plan to use the final regular-season races to expose and address his team’s weaknesses.

“Just exposing our weaknesses, figure out the areas we need to improve on. … You just race differently from the start of the race to the end. … I told my team, right before we started our meeting, I said, ‘Man, y’all say fatherhood looks good on me. Just wait till you see how Bubba locked in the playoffs looks good on me,'” Bubba Wallace said.

This strategic shift includes experimenting with bold strategies and “trying some weird stuff,” as Wallace put it, reflecting a relaxed but focused approach.