Bubba Wallace Scores Biggest Win of Career, Holding off NASCAR’s Best in the Brickyard 400

Nice, Gambling Team Penske, But It Failed to Work Again

Sure, the weekend was off to a hot start for the Toyota, as they swept the top five starting spots. Despite pole sitter Chase Briscoe taking an early lead, Team Penske came up with a plan and jumped on it pretty quickly. Austin Cindric put his number two car out front on a very different strategy than most of the field. As did Joey Logano and Josh Berry. For much of the race, it looked like it was going to pay off for each of them.

Things first went sour for Cindric on lap 83 while he was in the lead. He cut a right rear tire. Which isn’t uncommon at the Brickyard. Still, it wrecked his opportunity despite looking strong, leading 40 laps. If that wasn’t enough, the same thing befell Logano while he was in position to take over the race lead during the final green flag pitstop cycle, as he was ahead of Bubba, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson, and Denny Hamlin. Much like Cindric, Logano blew a right-rear tire.

By the end of the race, Penske’s hope of winning the Brickyard 400 was once again unanswered. Sure, Ryan Blaney had a shot late, staying out long, but he had to pit with just under 30 to go, handing the lead to eventual winner Bubba Wallace.

To Be the Best, You Have to Beat the Best:

After having to sit threw a slight rain delay, with four laps left in the race, and eventually two tough overtime restarts, Wallace found himself with one goal in mind. Beating the best. He beat the best on Sunday. He summed it up well in his very emotional post-victory interview on the TNT Sports set.

” During that first green-white-checkered, I thought, to be the best, you have to beat the best,” Wallace said. ” We can all sit up here and say Kyle Larson is the best at the time right now, and it’s an honor and a privilege to race with him… Larson wasn’t getting that from me.”

It was a career-defining win for Wallace, and to see how much he has grown as a person and a driver, especially with all of the outside noise he has to deal with. Seeing him able to celebrate winning with his wife and their son, and to do it at such a historic track, it was a special moment for sure.

Not to mention seeing all of his fellow competitors who gave him door bumps on the cool-down lap and those who came to visit him during the celebration. Despite what some out there think, he has proven he belongs.

Ty Gibbs Won Something:

As I said, it was a good weekend for Toyota. While Bubba was amid his huge victory, Ty Gibbs was celebrating winning the In-season challenge. A hat’s off to him; he finally won something at the Cup level. Still, for him to get a ring and the whole trophy ceremony was that part necessary?

Glad that’s over, I suppose. Now we can focus on the championship, oh wait, Iowa could easily produce another different winner, so we are far from having the 16 drivers who will run for the championship decided. The best thing is, Wallace doesn’t have to sweat out the bubble anymore.