Bubba Wallace Soars to Brickyard 400 Victory

Bubba Wallace kissing the Brickyard 400 trophy in Victory Lane after breaking his 100-race winless streak. (Photo: Zach Irvine | The Podium Finish)

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — In sports, it only takes one moment to change someone’s career, and for Bubba Wallace, winning the Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway was that moment in his NASCAR Cup Series career.

During the final round of pit stops, Wallace was able to jump Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and William Byron during his stop. Still, he found himself behind Joey Logano as the laps began to wind down. That was until Lap 135 when Logano had a right rear tire failure, forcing him down pit road and handing control of the race to Wallace.

The only problem in that moment for Wallace was the rain, which brought out a red flag with four laps to go and sent the race to overtime. During both overtime restarts, Wallace fended off Larson, all while saving enough fuel to cross the yard of bricks as a winner at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Bubba Wallace burning it down at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after winning his first Brickyard 400. (Photo: AJ Sylvia | The Podium Finish)

“To overcome so much and to put these people in Victory Lane, that’s what it’s all about,” Wallace said. “These people keep pushing me, believing in me. Man, just so proud.”

The win broke a 100-race winless streak for Wallace, dating back to Kansas in 2022. It also locked him into the NASCAR Playoffs for the second time in his career, escaping the pressure of the cutline for the final four races of the regular season. He also brought up the significance of his win for his 23XI Racing team, especially amid what has been a tougher season on and off the track than the past few have been.

“Unbelievable to win here at the Brickyard,” said Wallace. “Knowing how big this race is and knowing all the noise that’s going on in the background, to set that all aside is a testament to these people here on this (No.) 23 team. It’s been getting old running on the (playoff) cutline.”

Bubba Wallace “silencing the crowd” after winning the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Photo: AJ Sylvia | The Podium Finish)

Finishing in second was Larson, who fell just one spot short of defending his Indianapolis victory from a season ago. On the final two restarts, Larson cited the difficulty of being on the outside compared to the inside, but how overall, another top five is a good finish for his No. 5 team.

“The leaders got the inside (lane), it’s really hard to beat that,” Larson said on the two overtime restarts against Wallace. “So, kind of just hoping for some good fortune again with fuel and whatnot. It’s been a rough stretch for us here lately, so to get two top fives in a row is something I’m proud about.”

Back behind the leaders was the battle between Ty Gibbs and Ty Dillon for the NASCAR In-Season Challenge and the $1 million prize, which ended up in Gibbs’ hands with a 21st-place finish, besting Dillon’s 28th-place run.

“Yeah, it’s great,” Gibbs said on winning the inaugural NASCAR In-Season Challenge. “Thank you to TNT and NASCAR for this opportunity and it’s awesome to win it. It’s an honor and I’m super blessed to be in this situation.”

Bubba Wallace celebrating after winning the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Photo: AJ Sylvia | The Podium Finish)

Denny Hamlin finished in third place, Ryan Preece scored a fourth-place finish and rounding out the top five was Brad Keselowski in fifth. Finishing inside the top 10 were Todd Gilliland, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman and Carson Hocevar.

With just four races remaining before the playoffs, Chase Elliott holds a four-point lead over Byron for the regular season championship and Chris Buescher now slots into the final provisional playoff spot with a 42-point cushion over Preece.

The NASCAR Cup Series returns next weekend at Iowa Speedway for the Iowa Corn 350 on Sunday, August 3, at 3:40 p.m. EST on USA Network, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Stage 1 Top 10 Results

1. Chase Briscoe
2. Bubba Wallace
3. William Byron
4. Tyler Reddick
5. Chris Buescher
6. Kyle Busch
7. Carson Hocevar
8. Kyle Larson
9. Austin Dillon
10. AJ Allmendinger

Stage 2 Top 10 Results

1. Ryan Blaney
2. Kyle Larson
3. Denny Hamlin
4. William Byron
5. Brad Keselowski
6. Alex Bowman
7. Carson Hocevar
8. Joey Logano
9. Chris Buescher
10. Bubba Wallace

Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Finishing Results