As NASCAR announced the Chicago Street Race, many people were caught off-guard. One other thing about this whole thing that caught fans off-guard was the driver they picked to be part of the announcement. The driver who goes by the name of Bubba Wallace.

Some NASCAR fans were left confused as to why the 23XI Racing driver was chosen as the representative of the sport from the driver’s end in place of, let’s say, Chase Elliott or Kyle Larson.

Fortunately for those wondering, journalist Bob Pockrass explained why it was Wallace.

“A reason to have Chicago street race is to introduce sport to people who don’t necessarily follow it closely — and Bubba Wallace is a driver many people have heard of even if they don’t watch racing,” he tweeted.

“His co-owner is well known in Chicago. So makes sense to have him speak today.”

Bubba Wallace expects the Chicago NASCAR race to be a blockbuster

Speaking at the press conference of the announcement, Bubba Wallace laid emphasis on the fact of how important it is for NASCAR to bring their goods to the demographic in Chicago.

“We talk about how representation matters,” Wallace continued. “I think exposing this sport to this area, downtown, with so much to do around while this race is going on, is super important.”

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“So you’re going to get that next Bubba Wallace that’s sitting in the stands, like I was when I was 9 years old, to be like: ‘Hey, I want to do this one day. But I want to be better.’”

NASCAR executive Ben Kennedy also tried to increase the hype by claiming it’d be “One of the biggest sporting events,” in the United States of America in 2023.

“What better place to do it than downtown Chicago, such an iconic city?”

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