Wallace Makes History at Indy: First Black Driver Wins Brickyard 400

INDIANAPOLIS – Bubba Wallace celebrated a historic victory at the Brickyard 400, a triumph that saw him exit the number 23 car with his fists raised, sharing the joy with his family and savoring every moment of this feat. Wallace, 31, overcame an 18-minute rain delay, two thrilling overtime periods, concerns about fuel shortage, and fierce competition from defending champion Kyle Larson to become the first Black driver to win a major race on the 2.5-mile oval of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

This victory is truly special. Coming out of turn 4, I knew I would make it, unless we ran out of gas. I was surprised I wasn’t crying like a baby.

Bubba Wallace

This triumph represents Wallace’s third victory in the NASCAR Cup and the first in one of the series’ four most prestigious events, along with the Daytona 500, the Coca-Cola 600, and the Southern 500. In addition, it ended a 100-race winless streak dating back to 2022 in Kansas and secured a place in the playoffs. His other victory was at Talladega in 2021. The final difference was 0.222 seconds, but the tension was palpable.

Larson cut a 5.057-second deficit to about three seconds with six laps remaining, at which point the yellow flag came out for rain. The cars stopped on pit road with four laps to go, forcing Wallace to rethink his restart strategy.

All the time I wondered if we were going to run. I was more inclined to think we would, so I prepared myself. I wasn’t going to relax.

Bubba Wallace

Wallace made sure he was ready. He beat Larson into the second turn on the first restart, but a crash behind him forced a second overtime, forcing his team to recalculate whether they had enough fuel to finish the race or if he needed to concede the lead and refuel. For Wallace, there was no other option.

The first thing I thought was, ‘Here we go again.’ But then I said, ‘I want to win this clean. I want to race again.’ And here we are.

Bubba Wallace

He beat Larson again on the restart and pulled away, preventing Larson from becoming the fourth consecutive race winner. The victory also eased the frustration Wallace felt on Saturday, when he spent most of the qualifying session in provisional pole, only to see Chase Briscoe secure the first starting position in one of the last laps of the session. On Sunday, he made sure it wouldn’t be repeated, providing an extra boost to the 23XI Racing team, co-owned by Basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and last week’s race winner, Denny Hamlin, as he continues his legal battle with NASCAR over his franchise status.

Those last 20 laps had ups and downs and I was telling myself ‘You can’t do it’. Once I saw it was Larson, I knew he had won here last year and that he is possibly the best in the field. So to beat the best, we had to be the best today.

Bubba Wallace

Regarding the In-Season Challenge, the victory went to Ty Gibbs, who outperformed Ty Dillon in both qualifying and on race day. Gibbs finished in 21st place to win this inaugural single-elimination tournament, similar to March Madness, and took home the $1 million prize. Dillon, a surprise in the championship round after entering the field as the 32nd and last driver, finished in 28th place.

They brought me money guns, and they jammed, so I decided to take all the money and throw it to the fans, and everyone was fighting and scrambling for it. But it’s great. It’s a great opportunity.

Ty Gibbs