Following a gritty fifth-place finish at the Southern 500 in Darlington, North Carolina, on Aug. 31, the first race of the NASCAR playoffs, Bubba Wallace finds himself making history — again.
Wallace said on Instagram this year that he takes pride in being NASCAR’s lone Black driver but wishes the media would not focus on it. His 2025 performance almost makes that impossible.
He arrived in St. Louis this week for Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway with a chance to increase the odds of his being crowned champion. Of the 16 playoff contenders that raced at Darlington, Wallace was one of four to finish in the Top 10.
His performance left him fifth in playoff standings and brimming with confidence.
“Appreciate all the hard work. Got to keep it going. First race. Check that off the list. Nine more to go, so excited for the opportunity ahead of us,” Wallace said following the race.
“This team can go really far.”
Wallace became the first Black driver to win a major race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 27, when he won the coveted Brickyard 400. No Black driver has won the Indianapolis 500 or a Formula 1 race on the road course.
He held off defending NASCAR champion Kyle Larson on a pair of re-starts and survived an 18-minute rain delay. Wallace was close to a playoff berth after that win, and he knew it.
“This one’s really cool,” Wallace said. “Coming off Turn 4, I knew I was going to get there — unless we ran out of gas. I was surprised I wasn’t crying like a little baby.”
Michael Jordan is a co-owner of the 23XI Team, and he had watched 100 races roar past without a Wallace win before the Indianapolis victory. It was the third of Wallace’s career following triumphs at Talladega in 2021 and Kansas Speedway in 2021.
David Steward, founder and chair of World Wide Technology, is a friend and booster of Wallace’s. Since partnering with WWT Raceway owner Curtis Francois by securing the track’s naming rights, Steward has seen the track’s popularity grow.
Wallace’s ascension has followed that of the raceway, which helped take the Illinois 300 from a June race to the playoffs.
He was a NASCAR playoff contender in 2023 but says he is a different driver two years later.
“I don’t feel like 2023 Playoff Bubba, where like, ‘Oh man, it’s cool to be talking to you guys for Playoff Media Day,’” he said last Sunday.
“I feel like I belong here and want to continue this trend. I have the utmost confidence in our team and our ability and potential to carry this into making a deep run into the playoffs.”
Wallace, who was eliminated from playoff contention after eight races in 2023, has a 25-point cushion from elimination headed into the Enjoy Illinois 300.
A win would propel Wallace into the role of favorite to win the NASCAR title. It would be a chapter in Black sports history that the media should not ignore. Rest assured, I will not.
The Reid Roundup
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ decision to trade All-Pro linebacker Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers for two first-round draft picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark was not based on football. Jones’ ego took a hit when Parsons refused to back down in contract negotiations…Parsons, who signed a four-year, $188 million contract extension, said, “I’m here to win games and prove this organization was right about me.”…Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, who said he did not think Parsons would be traded, told ESPN’s Todd Archer, “I’m not going to say we’re better. We’ve got to go out there and prove it.” …Hall of Famer Michael Irvin, who is among the former Cowboys who contends Jones is not racist, guaranteed on ESPN that Parsons would not be traded — about five minutes before the trade. “In order for us to be right here, something had to go down that hurt Jerry personally to make this crazy, dumb move.”…Sunday night, Sept. 28, Green Bay at Dallas. Parsons will sack Prescott at least twice.