Bubba Wallace during the Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. (Photo: Erik Smith | The Podium Finish)
HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Bubba Wallace scored a much-needed third-place finish after an impressive drive in Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Wallace started the race in ninth and faded a little as the first stage went on, ultimately finishing in 12th. Once Stage 2 kicked off, the No. 23 car came to life with Wallace driving inside the top five to place fifth in the stage, remaining upfront in contention for the remainder of the race.
On Lap 207, the final caution of the race came out after Ryan Blaney‘s engine expired on the front straightaway. This brought all the leaders down pit road for the final stop of the day with Wallace’s No. 23 team having a blazing pitstop, winning the battle off pit road.
When the race went back green, he was able to fend off the Hendrick Motorsports teammates of Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman until Lap 235.
Sure and steady, Bowman caught Wallace to take the lead. After losing the number one spot, Wallace remained toward the front of the field, only losing one more position to finish in third as Larson took the win.
Bubba Wallace (No. 23) battling William Byron (No. 24) for position during the Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. (Photo: Erik Smith | The Podium Finish)
“It was really good, ” Wallace said following the race. “We showed up here in Miami and had speed. That’s the first box you want to check. We all know when you are a race car driver, you want to show up and be competitive. We were that.”
Wallace also made sure to give credit to his pit crew after the race, who on top of winning the battle off pit road during the final stop, were consistently good.
“My pit crew has been on fire. A tremendous amount of work has gone into the last five years of this team to get to where we’re at,” he said. “We’re not where we want to be, but we are damn sure competitive each and every stop. They got us up there and gave me a shot.”
Homestead-Miami Speedway is known for tire wear, especially on long runs. So, when talking about the final run of the race, Wallace did not think he used his tires up as much as he potentially did, which allowed both Bowman and Larson to get by.
“I didn’t think I burned my stuff up to start that last run,” he said. “I thought it was very similar to the previous restart, but I don’t know. I need to go back and study and look at what happened.”
Bubba Wallace racing at Homestead-Miami Speedway en route to a third-place finish in the Straight Talk Wireless 400. (Photo: Erik Smith | The Podium Finish)
Wallace led 56 laps, only behind Blaney who led 124 and had an average running position of 5.92 on the day. The performance for Wallace was an important one also, as it had been a tough start to the 2025 season for him, only recording one top 10 through the first five races coming into this weekend.
“It’s been a grind all year long,” said Wallace. “I’m talking like we’re 20 races in, it’s only five, whatever it is. We’ve just been getting kicked in the teeth the last stage of every race, finally closed one out.”
Now after being able to “close one out,” Wallace will look to carry over the momentum of this top-five run to next Sunday’s race at Martinsville Speedway.
“This feels good,” he said. “I can’t hang my head over this. As pissed off as I want to be at myself, it’s a good day.”
