

Before Bubba Wallace was one of the most well-known drivers in the top tier of NASCAR, he was just a moderately known driver betting on his luck in the Truck Series. It was there, that the 23XI Racing driver showed his talent and won a race, way before he ran in the Cup Series.
However, connected to that time is an anecdote, an ultimatum from Kyle Busch, one of the greatest drivers in the history of NASCAR, to Wallace.
“When I won my first Truck race in 2013, I was 20-some races in, it was kind of a miserable season. I raced for Kyle Busch at that point. He told me after that year, If I didn’t win, I wouldn’t gonna be back,” he recalled in his appearance on I Am Athlete show.
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“It was a big deal for me. It was because I won, something I love to do.”
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Bubba Wallace didn’t like the focus of his first NASCAR Cup win
Bubba Wallace described how when he won his first Cup Series race at Talladega in 2021, the buzz wasn’t about his win but what his win represented. It was basically, in his own words, something he doesn’t “give a damn” about.
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“You won your race, it’s like sweet. The first thing that comes out of the reporter’s mouth when I get out of victory lane, ‘The first in 50 years since Wendall Scott, African-American driver Bubba Wallace,'” he said.

via Getty
DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 16: Bubba Wallace, driver of the #23 McDonald’s Toyota, waits on pit lane during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series 64th Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 16, 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
“It’s just like, ‘Oh damn. Oh, I didn’t know that'” Wallace continued. “I don’t go and read the history, I don’t give a damn where the sport was, where it’s going.”
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“I just live in the moment.”
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