NASCAR CUP SERIES: DUEL 1 AT DAYTONA

February 13, 2025

Bubba Wallace

Press Conference

An Interview with:

THE MODERATOR: We've been joined by our race winner of Duel Number 1. Congratulations, Bubba Wallace. You said in your TV interview that you just really wanted one of these wins. Tell us a little bit about just the opportunity to finally check that off your checklist.

BUBBA WALLACE: Yeah, a win in general. I didn't know whether to stop on the front stretch, where to go to victory lane. Two years hiatus, you lose memory a lot or really quick.

To finally get a duel win, I hope it's the right stepping stone for accomplishing Sunday. Better yet, I'm tired of going over to Blaney's house and seeing his duel win trophy, and I finally got win. Tyler got one last year. I was getting jealous. Now I got my own, and we're good.

All in all a good night for our team. I thought it was pretty cool just seeing how well the 23 and the 45 worked together and moving to that top lane forward together the whole night. That was really, really special.

All in all a good night for the team.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Bubba, you won the race. That feels great. You also got to take Becks to victory lane. What felt better?

BUBBA WALLACE: Having my family here with me. I started crying walking out to driver intros. When I walked under the Rolex banner, I was carrying him in my arms. I was like, Why didn't I have this experience at Bowman Gray, because it was my first race? He wasn't there with me. I wasn't carrying him. So I lost it walking out on pit road, and I was trying my best to cover it up a little bit.

But, man, he was surprisingly calm throughout the whole driver intros and the pre-race stuff, which means we're going to be in hell tonight probably while he's sleeping. While we're trying to sleep, he's going to be wide awake. Having him here and Amanda, you know, it's been the best four months of our life. A lot of ups and downs, a lot of sleepless nights, but it's The moments like this before we can all celebrate together, which is really special.

Having him in victory lane doing the old Lion King pose was really cool (laughing).

Q. In terms of the big picture of this, is there anything you can carry over for tonight to Sunday in terms of confidence and how the call ran, or is it just a qualifying race and you move forward?

BUBBA WALLACE: A little bit of both. The stats have spoken for us and what we've been able to do on the 23 side of things. Really since the start of my Cup career here at Daytona, the stats have spoken for itself.

Having no duel wins, whether it's the 500 or it's the 400, no wins there. So, like I said, I hope this is a stepping stone to pad those stats and also show, hey, we're for real, and we want to get it done. We just don't want to survive.

I've wanted to be a car -- I think I may have told you guys on Wednesday, you know, if you are a first three cars, there's your winner on the last lap, last two laps. There's your winner. One of those cars is going to be your winner. We're usually fourth or fifth, and we're second most times.

Four of the last 30 laps, 35 laps we were the lead car, and we were able to control our own destiny. You know, it was nice to be in that spot because we've never been in that spot before. So I thought Freddie did an incredible job giving me the right information to keep us all intact and keep our line moving forward, but yeah, I think it's a little bit of both.

You can enjoy the small victory right now, but we're going to be on track tomorrow to figure out how we can get our McDonald's Toyota Camry even faster yet. There's a lot to debrief and a lot going on just from that quick race we had.

The grind never stops. Now that we're officially -- our season is underway, the grind doesn't stop until post-race Phoenix. We just have to continue to fight and work really hard to get our cars even better.

We've made big strides. I appreciate Toyota's efforts in pushing the needle and wanting to get our speedway stuff better. None of us were satisfied with how we were running and the results that we were bringing to the track last year.

Getting that first poll with Briscoe and then capping it off with a duel win tonight is pretty cool.

Q. You kind of touched on it a little bit, but is it nice to have this victory even if it's a duel race because it reminds people that, Hey, I can still win at this level? Even though it's been a couple of years, this serves as a shot across the bow?

BUBBA WALLACE: 100%. 100%. That's why I gave the silencer on the front stretch. We're here. I got a team that believes in me, and I have just as much faith in this team to take it to new heights.

Honestly seeing what Tyler was able to do with his team and the 45 group last year going all the way to the Final Four at Phoenix, there's no reason why we can't do the same. It all starts right here tonight.

Q. I never cried. Then I had my daughter, and I started crying at coffee commercials. How much has it changed you becoming a father over the last four months?

BUBBA WALLACE: Yeah, I tried to play that hard role every once in a while, but everybody in here knows I'm very emotional. I'm not afraid to hide it or share it with you.

It is the coolest thing. I've always been told that by a lot of people in here in the media center, a lot of my friends. It's the coolest thing having a kid.

You never know if you're ready, and I do regret not having one earlier because he's brought so much joy and just new perspective to life. It's something that I wish I had five years ago, you know?

I feel like I'm walking lighter because of him. So 4 months old, he's already changed my life so much.

Q. Bubba, when the new year started, you had a thread on X where you admitted the last two years had kind of kicked your ass and you had made a commitment to be better, do better. Your mentals were at an all-time high. Is a night like tonight the end result of that process you went through in the offseason in committing yourself to be more than what you've been the past couple of years?

BUBBA WALLACE: It's just the beginning. You can get very complacent in life and your professional life, and you can keep doing the same routines over and feel like you're not moving the needle or getting anywhere, and you are getting the same results. So it's ultimately how you control your destiny is how you wake up each and every day.

If you wake up with, eh, (expletive) mindset, then that's how it's going to be. If you show up and put emphasis behind that F-word, then it's really going to make a difference.

You have to roll your sleeves up and deal with all the BS. I was not happy with myself. Every time I looked in the mirror, I wasn't happy. Physical appearance, mental appearance, it needed to change.

I've been committed to that longer than a month, which I proved my wife wrong, so we're on the right track. Yeah, I mean, last night me and my photographer, Nico, we ran three and a half miles before qualifying. Yeah, so tomorrow I'll wake up and try to do the same thing and just continue to be a better version of myself each and every day.

Holding Becks, he is only 14 pounds, but I'm already wore out holding him, so I have to get my ass in shape somehow.

Q. I heard you in victory lane say something to the extent of, oh, yeah, we get points. How big is that? Obviously it's not as valuable technically as a regular season win, but we've seen that every point can matter. How big do you think that is?

BUBBA WALLACE: No doubt. Coming down to Darlington last year we were more than just ten points out, but you never know how that can change the trajectory of your season.

Yeah, I totally forgot that this is a points-paying race. Is Jimmie leading right now? Nice. Solid Toyota up front.

Yeah, I think it's just the beginning. We have to enjoy it. Like you said, every point matters. Denny has always said that from day one of 23XI, since the inception, of every point matters. You try to do the best you can of not giving up those points no matter what race it is.

Q. Bubba, to Jordan's question earlier, what carries from this moving forward on superspeedways that you can learn just how to close races when you are in those positions at the end of the race?

BUBBA WALLACE: Yeah, that's a great question. I was sitting -- I forgot when we took the lead. 35 to go? Sure. On that caution.

I told myself, I've never really been in a scenario like this on speedway stuff. We've always just kind of snuck into second. So it's just about keeping your emotions and your mental in check and not getting too far out. Just like the racetrack, not letting your runs get too far out and you are stranded on an island and then you are swallowed up. I was definitely trying to do my best at keeping that all status quo, and it seemed to pay off.

In my career, aside from Kansas where we closed that one out in a dominant fashion, I haven't really had that. Tonight looked good, and we have to continue to keep ourselves in that spot.

Q. You have the best average finish in the Cup Series in regular season races of anyone with more than ten starts at Daytona. You have five top 5s in 15 starts here. I don't say that just to get you pumped up, but what is it about Daytona or what is it about you that makes you run so consistently well here?

BUBBA WALLACE: The people that I have behind me, 23XI, and even the days with RPM and the 43. Having the right people, having the right mindset, building fast race cars. It's a grind. I'll tell you, even driving the 43, having that big rookie stripe, we had a ton of speed in our car, but when you have a rookie stripe, no one wants to work with you. So you have to grind and fight for the reputation you earn on the racetrack. Good finishes help that a lot.

I feel like I could be trusted out on the racetrack, and it takes a lot of trust. You see some new guy on the field, and you are hesitant. We've seen the wrecks tonight in Duel 1, and I don't know if that's from inexperience. I haven't seen the replays or anything. A lot of the wrecks happen from inexperience and lack of trust.

You have to build that. You have to build your résumé up and make the right moves. Yes, you have to make some wrong moves to see if it works, but all in all, I've tried to keep a clean nose for all the starts that I've had here, and it seems to be paying off. Having the right people around you, making the right decision at the right time and executing.

Q. You've got two second place finishes in the 500 here.

BUBBA WALLACE: Tired of talking about it. Go ahead.

Q. That's not where I was going.

BUBBA WALLACE: Good, good.

Q. You have talked, though, particularly here about having the tools with 23XI to continue to be successful and elevate your own game. At this point do you feel you have everything you need to go out on Sunday and finally win this thing and that it really is now just down to circumstances?

BUBBA WALLACE: I mean, hell, I think it's always been about circumstances. I felt like every time I strapped into a race car at Daytona 500 I've been able to win and just things haven't worked out like that.

Yeah, I don't think there's one time that I haven't felt that. You have to show up and have that drive and that passion that you are going to win it, but you also have to put yourself in the right spot. That comes down from the first pit stop to the last one, the moves you make. You think the top is going to roll for a second, and then it doesn't.

One of the hardest things about plate racing is you have to make all the right moves, but you never know that they're the right moves until you make the wrong one. Trying to understand that and figure that out, it's one massive game of chess.

So, yeah, you have to have that confidence when the green flag drops, and we all absolutely have that because of the people that we do have at 23XI.

Q. Has seeing and being a part of all the effort that Denny and Michael and everybody back at the shop has put into this just driven you and Tyler that much harder and driven this rise for 23XI that much faster than maybe any of us expected?

BUBBA WALLACE: Yeah, I mean, look, they had a vision, and they believed in me at a point where I was still trying to find my way in the sport. We didn't have the best of races in the 43, and you would show up to some tracks and not have the confidence. Man, there's not one track on the circuit now where I don't show up and I can feel like I can run well or if not win.

That takes time, and it takes understanding that you are in a competitive sport. I've said this before that people are going to have the rise quicker than you. Look at Larson. I consider him the best in the field. There's not a jealous bone in my body that hates him for that. It's just how it is.

It's motivating because I know that if I continue to work hard that I can be there one day. So as long as you have people behind you believing in you and you continue to work your ass off, then the sky is the limit.

Q. Bubba, the two finishes you don't want to talk about, but the fact that you have run well here, you've run well at Talladega, but specifically here, having been so close and now having a Duel win, I guess what is your relationship with Daytona? How do you feel about this place and the fact that you feel confident you can get the job done, and it's just about that one last piece on Sunday?

BUBBA WALLACE: Yeah. We talk about this is the biggest purse in motorsports. Hell, I'm a watch guy. All I care about is the Rolex. My wife is tired of me buying them, so I would like a free one. I'm going to work hard for that and make her happy.

I think you have to crawl before you walk. Second place finishes I guess wasn't crawling enough, so maybe the Duel win is. Now we can put ourselves in a little bit better spot. I feel like we've done just about everything right, but just about everything I don't think is good enough to win the 500.

It's got to be perfect. So we just have to really focus on how to do that and, when that time comes, be in the same spot here on Sunday.