The friendship of Bubba Wallace and Ryan Blaney has been well documented through the years.
Last Sunday after Wallace won the Brickyard 400, the Team Penske driver was one of the many to give the No. 23 a congratulatory bump with his car on the cool-down lap. The No. 12 pilot later came up and gave his longtime friend a big hug.
On Saturday at Iowa, both drivers met with the media and during his visit, Wallace was asked about that relationship.
“And yeah, Blaney and I, we live 10 minutes apart from each other. We see each other all the time," Wallace said. "And he's there for me and I'm there for him through the good, through the bad. You always try to be like that shoulder to lean on and I truly appreciate him and what he's been able to do for me in my career. It's been a lot.
"And, it's just cool to have that relationship. You have your family here at the racetrack and when you have people you can lean on, it makes the bad weekends, like I talked about, a little bit easier.
“But yeah, you watch him and all the success that he has here and what he's been able to do in his career has been super cool. And I can easily be like, get jealous and not want to be a part of it. But no, it's cool as hell to see us all where we came from. And the thing that also kept me going is I do look back on the days when we were kids and I used to kick his ass and so it's like, you did it then why can't you do it now? And I kind of kept that as fuel too. So, we are super competitive.”
On Saturday at Iowa, @BubbaWallace and @Blaney had some banter back and forth with the @23XIRacing driver saying he kicked the @Team_Penske driver's ass when they were younger. Blaney fired back and suggested it was because the Wallaces were cheating. pic.twitter.com/Ov2ZKwDx7q
— Kyle Dalton (@kdsportswriter) August 3, 2025
As expected when Blaney visited the media center later, he was asked about Wallace’s comments on regularly beating him when they were younger.
“Well, they were cheating,” Blaney fired back with a smile. “There was no secret. Go back and ask everybody. The Wallaces were cheaters in Bandoleros and everything.
"But yeah, hey, how do I follow that up? I will say he did kick my butt pretty bad. They were really good in like Bandos and Legend cars and they were always the car to beat, but I think they were cheating the whole years I was racing with him.”
More must-reads:
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!