“My wife is the absolute trooper,” Bubba Wallace claimed recently. Indeed, the captivating chemistry between the 23XI Racing Cup Series driver and his wife, Amanda Carter, is undeniable. From holding the most jaw-dropping wedding ever, where they ordered McDonald’s snacks at 1 A.M., to having a baby last year, which has changed Wallace’s on-track performance and demeanor, the couple has done a lot together. But Amanda revealed that a certain racetrack has been extra special to her relationship.

So far in the 2025 season, Bubba Wallace has been on an optimistic rise. The No. 23 Toyota driver has clinched 4 top-tens and 2 top-fives, leading a total of 103 laps. He was close to fetching a good finish at Las Vegas until a mishap got in his way. Despite this fallout, Las Vegas still remains special to him, as his wife recollected on a podcast recently.

The budding of true love in ‘Sin City’

A resilient bond always has deep roots. Bubba Wallace and Amanda Carter officially started dating in 2015, when the NASCAR driver’s career had already taken wings. He proposed to his lady love in 2021 in Oregon in front of a waterfall, following which they got married in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2022. Although their public relationship has been fairly recent, their bond actually has an older origin. The two went to high school together. Amanda Wallace, a former financial analyst at the Bank of America, was proficient in studies. Her better half, on the other hand, was not. So when they sat together in Spanish class, she noted how Bubba always tried to cheat. Yet their love took root there. Not only that, but Las Vegas Motor Speedway also helped grow this bond.

In a recent podcast appearance with Haley Dillon, Amanda Carter revealed her husband’s naughty antics in school. She addressed Bubba Wallace by his actual name, Darrell, while narrating her story. She said, “Darrell and I went to high school together, not many people know that. I was a very studious student, and so he was always trying to be like, ‘Give me the answers,’ like whatever, whatever. And I’m like ‘No! I don’t want to get caught.'” Ultimately, their high school meeting did not lead to anything at first. Amanda even went to prom with somebody else from her future husband’s school.

However, a reconnection in 2015 turned things around. Bubba Wallace was running a Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and took that opportunity to invite his crush for a closer view. Amanda Carter recollected that, emphasizing how Sin City ultimately paved the way to her marriage: “He had invited me out to Vegas for a race. It was his last season of Xfinity, and he was a part-time Xfinity driver. And I said no initially, and then I eventually said yes. And we started dating while we were in Vegas. So yeah, we’ve known each other for a very long time. Since 2009. So Vegas is really special to us. We love Vegas.” But, apparently, the same place served as a test of friendship this season for Bubba and his long-time best friend.

On Lap 196 of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 16, 2025, drivers Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace were involved in a serious multi-car collision. The collision happened during a final-stage restart when Noah Gragson and Wallace’s No. 23 Toyota, together with Blaney’s No. 12 Ford, were four wide coming out of Turn 2. Contact followed as the gap shrank, launching Wallace and Blaney into the wall. This called for aggression from both drivers.

Bubba Wallace was frustrated and shouted into the radio, “Blaney came up on me!” Then he continued it with, “I don’t know how much f—— higher I can go… f—— idiots!” But Ryan Blaney took accountability for his actions post-race, saying, “I watched one little replay, and I had two outside, one inside, so I have to go back and see if I heard it wrong or if there was some miscommunication. I feel like I probably pitched those guys to the fence along the two, so it was probably my fault.” While this became a thing of the past soon enough, Vegas has added more memories for the No.23 driver of 23XI Racing.

Amanda Carter cherishes her bond with her husband, who benefits tremendously from his wife’s support. What is more, their relationship has significantly impacted Wallace’s track performance.

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Harnessing inspiration from his little one

Remember Bubba Wallace a year ago? The 23XI Racing driver was extremely moody due to poor finishes in the Cup Series. He even had scuffles with his rivals like Alex Bowman, whom Wallace angrily bumped into at the Chicago Street Race and landed a penalty. However, the start of the 2025 season has witnessed a complete reversal in Wallace’s personality. During the Shriners’ Children 500 race at Phoenix Raceway, Bubba Wallace faced a crash. After that, he radioed to his team that he had a ‘tire down’, leaving his spotter, Freddie Kraft, worried. As it turned out, he was simply joking despite the tough circumstances. Some time later, he went on to clinch back-to-back podium finishes at Homestead and Martinsville, a significant high in his career.

This reversal in mood and performance has surprised a lot of fans. However, Bubba Wallace attributed this to his family, specifically his and Amanda’s son, Beckett. Born in September 2024, the little one is the light in his father’s life: “Nothing else matters anymore, besides being a great father, being a great husband, being a great family man. Prior to that, it was always racing first, and I’ve missed out on a lot of good memories and opportunities by putting that first and causing a lot of stress from within or the people surrounding me … It took having a kid to realize there’s so much more to life.”

Evidently, Bubba Wallace’s loved ones have been integral to his happiness. That’s what makes Las Vegas more important to him, as it marked the beginning of such a beautiful love story!