TALLADEGA, Ala. – Bubba Wallace still has the voicemail message Michael Jordan left him after Wallace’s first Cup Series victory. His winning No. 23 Toyota is currently housed at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina, but it will eventually be his to display.
Wallace’s rain-shortened win at Talladega Superspeedway last October was a career breakthrough, and now Wallace wants more. He returns to the Alabama megatrack for Sunday’s race as a legitimate threat, but the task facing 23XI Racing is contending at every track on the schedule.
“The opportunity is so high to go out and win any race. There’s a lot more races than just Talladega and Daytona that we can look forward to,” Wallace said in an interview with The Associated Press. “We have races that we look forward to throughout the year, and that’s different than years past. … Just showing up and knowing you have an opportunity automatically makes your mind shift tenfold.”
It’s been the kick in the firesuit that the 28-year-old Wallace has needed in his fifth full season at NASCAR’s top level. In three seasons driving for Richard Petty Motorsports, Wallace accumulated a meager three top-five finishes and 34 laps led in 108 races.
But life changed in 2020 when Wallace, the only Black driver in the Cup Series, took a public stance on social and racial justice. His position was amplified as NASCAR was one of the only major sports competing in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic and companies took notice. Wallace pulled in a variety of new to NASCAR sponsors in DoorDash, Columbia Sportswear and Dr Pepper, and the funding helped three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin – who still drives for Joe Gibbs Racing – start a race team built around his fellow driver.