Bubba Wallace was frustrated in the previous weeks. During the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, 23XI Racing was trying to hold out. However, Wallace wrangled with his team owner, Denny Hamlin, in Kansas, which potentially cost him a win. With a lackluster 15th-place result at the Roval, he was not able to advance. Yet the frustration probably hit more now, as he could not upset the Round of 8 contenders.

The Yellawood 500 race at Talladega Superspeedway presented a plethora of challenges for drivers. The 2.66-mile Alabama oval lived up to its notorious reputation, and Bubba Wallace wanted to top off the chaotic drama with a victory. Alas, he failed to do so and lamented about it post-race.

Bubba Wallace recollects the fateful last lap

The No. 23 Toyota driver rolled off in the 10th spot in Talladega. Within 5 laps, he was vying for the lead with two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch. This was just the beginning of a stellar day for the 23XI Racing driver. Throughout the race, he led five laps; by lap 178, Wallace and Zane Smith had formed a third lane to counter the main leaders. With three laps to go, he passed William Byron for the lead. However, things drastically changed on the final lap, upon which Wallace was audibly crestfallen. “Bummed, frustrated, p—– off,” he said in a post-race interview.

With half a lap to go, Bubba Wallace was leading. Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Chase Briscoe and Ty Gibbs followed him. All of a sudden, Kyle Larson, who was also in the top five, ran out of gas. And Briscoe took the help of Gibbs’ push and ran his No. 19 to the inside of Wallace’s car to snatch the lead. Wallace reflected sadly: “Obviously, you never know when people are going to run out. I think we could have covered that a little bit better than hard. Like if I’d have popped bottom, the 19 would’ve drove around me on top. So just wasn’t meant to be crazy how it all played out then.”

When he was leading on the final lap, Bubba Wallace looked forward to more than a repeat of his October 2021 Talladega victory. 23XI Racing is currently embroiled in a lawsuit with NASCAR, with the team’s future looking cloudy. What is more, Wallace was eliminated after the Round of 12. So the Toyota star was determined to upset the playoff drivers aiming to crack the Championship 4. So Wallace confessed to his disappointment. “We paid it for our teams. And I thought we gave ourselves a really good opportunity there at the end. And didn’t have all of the pieces of the puzzle there.” He continued, “Wanted to get us another one, but we got two more.” 

Indeed, Bubba Wallace’s conviction to be a threat in Martinsville and Phoenix is a legitimate ambition. That is because of his phenomenal progress in 2025.

Finishing well in a good mood

With two races left in the 2025 Cup Series season, Bubba Wallace stands 10th in the points standings. He may be targeting a career-best season finish, with 1 win, 6 top fives, and 14 top tens. But the journey has been arduous. In the past years, Wallace struggled mentally with how badly things would go after entering a race with high expectations. This struggle also resulted in racetrack conflicts with rivals like Kyle Larson or Alex Bowman. However, after the birth of his son, Becks Hayden, and after welcoming Charles Denike as the no. 23 crew chief, Wallace’s fortunes have changed.

Now, Bubba Wallace has learned to take things in stride. Despite his elimination from the playoffs and his recent frustration at Talladega, he faces the camera with a wise smile. Wallace observed that his changed attitude stems from a team-first perspective. “Look, I get motherf—ed if I have a bad day and get out and say I had a bad day. [People say] I’m b-tching and complaining. No, I’m stating facts. Part of me is biting my tongue and going with it. But at the same time, everyone is frustrated, and we’ve been frustrated for three hours. There is no need to add onto it. The frustration that would kick in was that I would look at our team and wonder, ‘Why are we the only ones that can’t figure it out?'”

Evidently, Bubba Wallace is figuring out his problems with lightning speed this season. He is sure to be a threat to playoff drivers – let’s wait and see how he performs next.