Bubba Wallace's Brickyard win spotlights his understated human side

When it comes to Bubba Wallace, the elephant in the room is that any conversation about him will likely not be centered around his skill, his achievements, or even his personality.

Because he is the only active Cup Series driver from an African-American background, he was known from the start as "the black driver". Then, because of an incident in 2020 in which a pull rope in his garage stall at Talladega Superspeedway was falsely reported by a crew member as a noose, which led to a public smearing of Wallace's character despite his own lack of involvement in the "hoax", he became "the noose guy". Sadly, to many fans, he will now always be "the noose guy".

It's a shame, especially because anyone who sees Wallace for who he is instead of what he is can appreciate that he's the exact type of driver the sport needs more of today.

Bubba Wallace's emotional post-race Indy interview is why we all love sports

After holding off Kyle Larson on two overtime restarts to capture the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Wallace gave a tearful interview to the TNT studio expressing how much the win means to him. The raw emotion, the authenticity, the element of pure humanity shining through, is everything right about NASCAR racing.

Wallace's tendency to wear his emotions on his sleeve has always been a staple of the person he is. It's one of his most endearing attributes, even if it's landed him into controversy on a few occasions in which he has let his frustration get the best of him. But part of that honesty is he's shown an ability to grow from his mistakes, which makes moments like Sunday's all the more special.

This was Wallace's first points-paying win in nearly three seasons, dating back to Kansas Speedway in the fall of 2022. Only a month after that victory was perhaps the lowest moment of his career, when he was suspended a race for intentionally crashing Larson at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Since then, he has maintained a more level-headed image in times of conflict, while his results on the track have also improved with some of the best seasons of his career. Additionally, he got married in December 2022 and became a father in 2024, making this the first victory he's been able to celebrate with his son Becks.

Similar to drivers such as Ross Chastain and A.J. Allmendinger who have faced their own obstacles, it's clear whenever Wallace wins that it just means more to him. In NASCAR today, drivers are often criticized for being too boring, their every word seemingly scripted by corporate sponsors, their personalities stripped of the rugged individuality that used to define this good ol' American pastime.

Yet it can be argued that one of the sport's last true characters is the guy who a large portion of the fanbase has written off for reasons that are short-sighted at best.

It's good for NASCAR when Bubba wins. Not because of what he is, but because of who he is.