INDIANAPOLIS — Bubba Wallace climbed out of his No. 23 car Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, pumping his fists in celebration before embracing his family. He had every reason to savor the moment: a hard-fought, historic victory in the Brickyard 400.

The 31-year-old became the first Black driver to win a major race on the Speedway’s iconic 2.5-mile oval, surviving an 18-minute rain delay, two nerve-wracking overtimes, and a fuel scare in the closing laps. Wallace also held off defending race champion Kyle Larson—twice—on back-to-back restarts to secure the milestone win.

“No Black driver has ever won the Indianapolis 500, and while Formula 1 has raced on the road course here, none had taken a major victory on the oval—until now,” NASCAR officials noted after the race.

“This one’s really cool,” Wallace said. “Coming off Turn 4, I knew I was going to get there—unless we ran out of gas. I was surprised I wasn’t crying like a little baby.”

Ending a 100-Race Drought

The victory marked Wallace’s third career NASCAR Cup Series win and his first in one of NASCAR’s four crown jewel events: the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, Southern 500, and the Brickyard 400. It snapped a 100-race winless streak dating back to 2022 at Kansas and secured his spot in the playoffs.

His previous wins came at Talladega in 2021 and Kansas in 2022.

The Drama Down the Stretch

Wallace crossed the finish line just 0.222 seconds ahead of Larson, but the margin doesn’t tell the full story. With 14 laps to go, Larson had slashed a 5.057-second deficit to about three seconds when rain brought out the yellow flag. Cars stopped on pit lane with four laps remaining, forcing Wallace to rethink his restart strategy.

“The whole time I’m thinking, ‘Are we going? Are we not?’” Wallace said. “I told myself, ‘Don’t get complacent. Be ready.’”

He nailed the first restart, only to see a crash behind him trigger another overtime. That raised a critical question for his crew: Did they have enough fuel to finish?

Wallace never considered pitting.

“The first thing that went through my mind was, ‘Here we go again,’” he said. “But then I told myself, ‘I want to win this straight up.’ And here we are.”

He outran Larson again on the second restart, denying him a shot at becoming the race’s fourth consecutive winner.

A Weekend of Redemption

The triumph erased the sting of Saturday’s qualifying session, where Wallace spent most of the day on the provisional pole—only to see Chase Briscoe snatch the top spot late.

Sunday’s win also provided a boost for 23XI Racing, co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, as the team continues a legal fight with NASCAR over its charter status.

“Those last 20 laps, there were ups and downs. I was telling myself, ‘You can’t do this.’ Then I saw Larson. He’s one of the best out there. To beat the best, we had to be the best today,” Wallace said.

Extra Headlines From the Brickyard

• Ty Gibbs Wins $1 Million Challenge: Gibbs topped Ty Dillon to capture NASCAR’s inaugural single-elimination In-Season Challenge, finishing 21st in the race but taking home the big prize, a title belt, and a championship ring. Dillon placed 28th.
• Tire Troubles Shuffle the Deck: Austin Cindric and three-time Cup champ Joey Logano looked strong early before tire failures ended their chances. Erik Jones exited after a blown tire sent him into the wall on Lap 91.
• Early Exits: Ross Chastain, Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Cody Ware were all out before Lap 100.
• Weather Woes: Officials bumped the start time up by 10 minutes to avoid rain, but showers still caused a late delay that set up the dramatic finish.
• Grand Marshal Guest: Cookie Monster served as the Brickyard’s grand marshal, joking before the race, “Don’t stop and ask for directions!”

What’s Next

The Cup Series continues its Midwest swing next Sunday at Iowa Speedway.