NASCAR: 3 lessons learned from Bubba Wallace’s first win

Bubba Wallace made NASCAR history in more ways than one when he earned his first career victory at Talladega Superspeedway. Here are three lessons learned from his first win.

It has finally happened: Bubba Wallace is a NASCAR Cup Series race winner. The driver of the #23 Toyota for 23XI Racing earned his first career win at Talladega Superspeedway when the YellaWood 500 was shortened due to rain.

The race’s scheduled distance had been more than halfway competed, and a caution flag which would have ended stage two due to a wreck ended up leading into a red flag for bad weather.

NASCAR elected to try to reclaim the track, but Mother Nature had other plans. Wallace had driven up to the lead before the wreck, and he was on track to win stage two.

The caution and subsequent rainout ended up benefiting him in more ways than one, as he earned his first career win in NASCAR’s top series, making him only the second African-American driver to win in the series and the first since Wendell Scott did so in 1963.

While Wallace’s new ride at the Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan-owned 23XI Racing was one of the biggest stories heading into the 2021 season, it was unclear if and when that first win would come. Now that is out of the way, as 23XI Racing and Wallace are Cup Series race winners.

Here are three lessons learned from Wallace’s first career win.

Lesson No. 1: 23XI Racing already have their teammates on the same page

Coming to the end of stage two, Wallace had help from his soon-to-be teammate. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch played a small part in Wallace’s win. It is nearly impossible for a driver to win a superspeedway race on his own, so it’s always a bonus when you can get help in the draft and decent pushes on the straightaways.

That’s exactly what Busch did for Wallace, and he even threw a couple of blocks throughout the last few laps.

It was confirmed over the summer that Busch will be joining 23XI Racing to drive the #45 Toyota next year. With Busch’s current team, Chip Ganassi Racing, set to be acquired by Trackhouse Racing Team, and Busch’s current teammate, Ross Chastain, well behind him, it only made sense for Busch to help his future teammate.

Busch is no stranger to having the help of teammates himself, with Chastain blocking younger brother Kyle at Atlanta Motor Speedway this past summer. This allowed the elder Busch to grab his first win this season.

With Chastain too far behind at Talladega Superspeedway, Busch paid it forward to his 2022 teammate, and combined with a well-timed block on Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski, Wallace was able to stay out front to grab his first win. The chemistry between Busch and Wallace seems be there already, making the two-car team a threat next year.

Lesson No. 2: 23XI Racing, Bubba Wallace have a foundation to build on

Now that Bubba Wallace and 23XI Racing have earned their first Cup series win, they have the foundation to build on in order to finish out the 2021 season strong. They should also have momentum heading into 2022.

While it might not be the goal of two wins and a playoff berth that Wallace and 23XI Racing had set for themselves at the beginning of the season, the infamous quote from Michael Jordan about “not signing checks for losers” no longer applies to Wallace.

Additionally, in a sport where sponsorship is key, Wallace already holds partnerships with Dr. Pepper, Columbia Sportswear and DraftKings, among others. Now that he is a winner in the Cup Series, this will only adds to his sponsorship draw.

Interestingly enough, Wallace broke an almost three-decade long drought for McDonald’s, the primary sponsor on his #23 Toyota for the win.

A McDonald’s-sponsored car hadn’t won in NASCAR since 1994 when Jimmy Spencer won at Daytona International Speedway. Wallace broke that drought and even received recognition for it from McDonald’s on social media.

If sponsorship and winning do not sound important enough, look at Wood Brothers Racing’s Matt DiBenedetto. DiBenedetto might have solid finishes, but he doesn’t have any wins or sponsorship to speak of.

Sponsorship is something DiBenedetto recently acknowledged in an interview with SiriusXM, saying, “you’re nothing without your partners, sponsors, and those folks backing you.” 

Wood Brothers Racing’s sponsors aren’t his, and with his 2022 replacement, Harrison Burton, having Xfinity Series wins and sponsorship from DEX Imaging, it’s clear to see why he lost his ride. In Wallace’s case, he no longer has to worry about either one, and he could secure his future with 23XI Racing.

Lesson No. 3:  The win counted, and it always will

In most scenarios, fans want to see a race run to its full distance. More importantly, it’s easy to imagine that most drivers want to see their first victory come by crossing the finish line on the last lap.

Even though this wasn’t the case for Bubba Wallace, it shouldn’t discredit his win or consider it non-existent.

Wallace has been a controversial figure when it comes to NASCAR’s fanbase in recent seasons, and it wasn’t hard to imagine that if/when he broke through with his first win, subjective responses from fans would be a factor.

While it doesn’t serve any purpose to highlight the divide, a simple search of Bubba Wallace on any social media platform will echo this.

What shouldn’t be an argument is that Wallace’s win wasn’t “real” or “he didn’t earn it.” If that were the case, the Xfinity Series race just prior to Wallace’s win wouldn’t have counted, when Brandon Brown earned his first career victory due to the race being called early due to darkness.

On the Cup Series side, NASCAR’s most popular driver, Chase Elliott, scored his first victory of the season when the inaugural race at Circuit of the Americas was called early due to rain back in May.

Rain wins are bittersweet instances in the sport, but NASCAR had lost the track even more after it had been declared that the track was lost.

As noted with Brown’s victory in the Xfinity Series, Talladega Superspeedway doesn’t have lights surrounding the track, and between the weather and darkness looming, there wasn’t any logistical window in which NASCAR could have fit the remainder of the race.

The only option was to call it, and just like any other rain-shortened NASCAR win, Wallace’s win was official since he was first on the scoring grid.

Regardless of opinion, Wallace now is a winner in the Cup Series. He made history in more ways than one, and none of it can be taken back, nor will it.