DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Bubba Wallace vowed to try to “enjoy the little stuff” this season. It showed in victory lane.
“Can I get a Rolex for this one?” Wallace quipped, referring to what winners receive after the Rolex 24 at Daytona sports car race.
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Wallace, driving the No. 23 Toyota for 23XI Racing, won the first of two qualifying races Thursday for the upcoming Daytona 500. He showed enough speed to make him one of the favorites heading into “The Great American Race.”
“Man, what a night,” Wallace said. “I’ve wanted one of these Duel wins for so long.”
Wallace will now start third in the Daytona 500 on Sunday, behind pole-sitter Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric. Wallace's win continued Toyota's early dominance at Daytona International Speedway, where Briscoe won the pole in his new Joe Gibbs Racing ride.
The 31-year-old Wallace celebrated his first victory at Daytona by spraying a Coke at his crew, hugging Denny Hamlin, who co-owns 23XI Racing along with Pro Basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan, and then lifting his newborn high into the air a la “The Lion King." The baby was wearing noise-protective headphones and a checkered-flag bib while sucking on a pacifier.
Wallace and wife Amanda welcomed Becks Hayden Wallace in late September. Wallace said he “lost it walking out on pit road” while carrying his 4-month-old son. He found himself shedding more tears while frolicking in victory with his family.
“It is the coolest thing having a kid,” Wallace said. “You never know if you’re ready. I regret not having one earlier. He’s brought so much joy and new perspective. I feel like I’m walking lighter because of him. Four months old, and he’s already changed my life.”
Wallace has talked openly about past battles with his mental health. And coming to Daytona has provided more stress than success, with Wallace being 0 for 15 in races at Daytona – although he’s finished second twice in the season-opening 500.
“Tired of talking about it,” he joked.
“I felt like every time I’ve strapped into a race car at Daytona 500, I’ve been able to win and just things haven’t worked out like that,” said Wallace, who has finished in the top 15 in 12 of his 15 starts at Daytona. “I don’t think there’s one time that I haven’t felt that. You have to show up and have that drive and passion that you’re going to win. But you also have to put yourself in the right spot.”
It nearly happened in 2018 and 2022, but Wallace came up just short in both Daytona 500s.
“I think you’ve got to crawl before you can walk,” he said. “Second-place finishes I guess wasn’t crawling enough. So maybe the Duel win is. Now we can put ourselves in a little bit better spot.
“I feel like we’ve done just about everything right. But just about everything isn’t good enough to win the 500. It’s got to be perfect, and we’ve just got to really focus on how to do that and when that time comes be in the same spot here Sunday.”
Wallace said a day earlier he “couldn’t care less” if President Donald Trump attends the Daytona 500. Trump accused the NASCAR Cup Series’ only Black full-time driver of perpetrating “ a hoax ” five years ago when a crewmember found a noose in the team garage stall.
Trump suggested in July 2020 that Wallace should apologize after the sport rallied around him following the discovery of the noose in his assigned stall at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. Federal authorities ruled that the noose had been hanging since October and was not a hate crime. NASCAR and the FBI have referred exclusively to the rope — which was used to pull the garage door closed — as a noose.
Wallace declined to say much about the possibility that Trump could return to NASCAR’s biggest race as a sitting president for the second time.
“We’re here to race,” Wallace said. “Not for the show.”
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing