INDIANAPOLIS — Bubba Wallace stepped out of his No. 23 car on Sunday, pumping his fists, embracing his loved ones, and soaking in every moment of a groundbreaking Brickyard 400 win.
It was a victory well earned — and long awaited.
The 31-year-old driver overcame an unpredictable 18-minute rain delay, two intense overtime restarts, and fuel concerns late in the race. All while fending off a fierce challenge from defending champion Kyle Larson. With the win, Wallace became the first Black driver to capture a major race on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s historic 2.5-mile oval. While no Black driver has ever won the Indianapolis 500, and Formula 1 only competes on the road course, Wallace has now etched his name into oval-racing history.
“This one’s really cool,” Wallace said after the race. “Coming off Turn 4, I knew I had it — unless we ran out of gas. I was actually surprised I didn’t cry like a little baby.”
The win marked Wallace’s third career NASCAR Cup Series victory, but his first in one of the sport’s four premier events — joining the ranks of the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, and Southern 500. It also ended a 100-race winless streak stretching back to Kansas in 2022 and secured a playoff berth. His first Cup victory came at Talladega in 2021.
Though the final margin was just 0.222 seconds, the emotional and strategic pressure was far heavier.
With 14 laps remaining, Larson trimmed Wallace’s lead from more than five seconds to about three before rain brought out the yellow flag. As the cars were brought to pit road with four laps to go, Wallace had to quickly weigh his options and plan his next move.
“All I kept thinking was, ‘Are we going or not?’” he said. “But I told myself, ‘Be ready. Don’t relax — we’re going back racing.’”
And he was right.
On the first restart, Wallace surged ahead through Turn 2, only for a crash behind him to trigger a second overtime. That put his team in a tough spot, needing to recalculate whether they had enough fuel to finish — or risk losing the lead to pit.
For Wallace, the answer was clear.
“My first thought was, ‘Here we go again,’” he said. “But then I thought, ‘I want to win this one fair and square. Let’s race.’ And here we are.”
Wallace held off Larson once more in the final restart, denying the defending champ a chance to become the event’s fourth back-to-back winner. The result helped ease the sting from Saturday’s qualifying session, where Wallace held the provisional pole until Chase Briscoe nabbed the top spot late.
Sunday’s triumph gave a significant boost to 23XI Racing — co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan and last week’s race winner Denny Hamlin — as the team remains embroiled in a legal dispute with NASCAR over its charter status.
“Those final 20 laps were a rollercoaster,” Wallace admitted. “I kept thinking, ‘You’re not going to pull this off.’ Then I saw Larson behind me. He’s arguably the best out here. So to beat the best, we had to be at our best.”
In-Season Challenge: Gibbs Takes the Prize
While Wallace took the checkered flag, Ty Gibbs secured a different kind of win — the $1 million prize for the In-Season Challenge. Despite finishing 21st, he outlasted Ty Dillon in the final round of the single-elimination tournament. Dillon, a surprise finalist after sneaking into the bracket as the 32nd seed, finished 28th.
“They gave me these money guns and they jammed,” Gibbs laughed. “So I just grabbed all the money and started throwing it into the crowd. People were going crazy. It was awesome.”
Gibbs also walked away with a championship belt and a ring for his victory.
Tire Troubles and Early Exits
Several top contenders saw their races unravel due to tire issues. Austin Cindric and three-time champion Joey Logano were both running strong before problems knocked them out of contention. Erik Jones suffered a hard crash on Lap 91 when his right front tire came loose, sending him into the wall between Turns 3 and 4.
Ross Chastain was the first driver out, just 18 laps in, after contact from Michael McDowell sent him spinning into the wall in Turn 3. Others who failed to reach the halfway mark included Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Cody Ware.
Weather Impacts Strategy
With rain in the forecast, officials moved the race’s start time up by 10 minutes — a decision that almost avoided the weather delay. Teams had already been adjusting strategy in anticipation of rain, and the looming threat pushed drivers to be aggressive earlier than expected.
Monster Cameo
Among the more unusual moments of the day: Cookie Monster — yes, the Sesame Street icon — served as the Brickyard’s grand marshal. He took part in driver introductions, fielded a few pre-race questions, and even offered some light-hearted racing advice:
“Don’t stop and ask for directions,” the furry blue guest said.
What’s Next
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Iowa next Sunday, continuing its summer tour through the Midwest.
