“What Is Happening?” Bubba Wallace Divulges Overcoming a ‘Mental Block’ as Crash-Filled Texas Tested His Resilience

Bubba Wallace has performed well on the Lone Star State track before, going through some high-speed drama in the middle. Last year in the Texas playoff race, Wallace was well in contention for a win. After leading a race-high 111 laps, he got locked into a fight with Chase Briscoe, helping William Byron take advantage of their battle and snatch the lead.

However, this year, Bubba Wallace was facing the Texas race with some confidence, and post-race, he admitted to mental struggles before buckling his racing helmet for the wreck-riddled race.

Bubba Wallace comes clean on a Texas nightmare

Wallace’s faltering mental health is nothing new to surface in the media world. Before he joined the ranks of the 23XI in 2021, Bubba Wallace used to drive for Richard Petty Motorsports. It was during that stint in 2019 that he first revealed that he had fought with depression for years. Kyle Petty had criticized his public announcement, but Wallace firmly stood by his decision.

Now under 23XI, Bubba Wallace comfortably shares his struggles. Recently, after the Texas race, he revealed a dilemma he faced on an episode of ‘Stacking Pennies.’ At first, he delved into a glaring difference in this year’s practice, as he took inspiration from his teammate Tyler Reddick.

“We definitely made a step up into it last year, when we made the playoffs…I was like, ‘Hey, good job’…Obviously, you show up and think everything’s gonna be the exact same. Nahh. We over-adjusted…we followed what the 45 was doing. We showed up to the track the exact same. And then we made a couple of adjustments every week”.

Then a nagging feeling kept lingering in his head. “I went in and I’m like, ‘Man, I’m tight. I’m just a little uncomfortable tight’…So I spent all Saturday, Saturday night sitting, I went to a concert…halfway through it I just sit and grab my phone and firing off texts to Bootie. And just thinking, ‘What is happening?! I couldn’t figure out the correct feedback.’”

Bubba Wallace then said how his imagination was not matching the results on the SMT. “But then you see shallow entry, tight center, see all the things that show you’re loose. But I’m over here like, I’m tight. He’s like, ‘Nah, you’re just compensating for being free’. I’m like, ‘Why can’t I get that through my head?!’”

He concluded that he was facing an issue, which he ultimately got over. “So I had a massive mental block, even through the race. I just don’t know what it was. So we get into the race, we’re okay.”

Yet mid-race, Bubba Wallace’s tensions hiked as his old Texas foe contacted him yet again.

Wallace and Briscoe, like the arch-enemies

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The crash-riddled Texas race was a dramatic one for most drivers. Starting in P22, he managed to work his way up into the top 10. A top 5 was in his sights, but a knockoff with an old foe messed up that plan. Another driver joined the party as, on lap 172, Harrison Burton took Wallace and Chase Briscoe three-wide into turn 3. Burton emerged unscathed, while the other two almost spun into the wall.

And that riled up Bubba Wallace even more. “I’m getting pissed off ’cause we keep restarting 10th to 12th…The 14 sticks his nose into 1 and the 10 doesn’t know that they were three-wide. We made contact, and I’m up by the wall. So of course I lose it. ‘I’m tired of restarting f***ing restarts right? Do something to get us track position.’ Well, we weren’t good enough to do that”.

Despite his Texas hiccups, Bubba Wallace now heads into his maiden victory track in Talladega with brighter hopes.