Bubba Wallace won his second career NASCAR Cup Series race Sunday at Kansas Speedway after leading 58 total laps, including the final 43, with one of the best cars on the 1.5-mile track.
And, he had to hold off his hard-charging boss, runner-up Denny Hamlin — who, in addition to driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, co-owns 23XI Racing with Michael Jordan — to take the checkered flag.
When the race ended, Wallace had a message for his haters as he collected his checkered flag. Simply, Shhhhh, as he exited his car on the track and raised his index finger to his lips. It was perfect and reminiscent of other athletes, Jordan included, addressing their critics.
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) September 11, 2022
This win is a big deal for Wallace and 23XI for several reasons. It was Wallace’s second career victory, it was 23XI’s second Kansas win in 2022 and it gave the No. 45 Toyota a big boost in the owner’s championship standings.
Wallace normally pilots the No. 23 Toyota but switched to the 45 for the playoffs, as the car is eligible for the owner’s title. Teammate Kurt Busch is typically in the No. 45 car, but he hasn’t been medically cleared to return to racing after experiencing “concussion-like symptoms” after a crash at Pocono Raceway in July. Busch won the spring Kansas race, setting Wallace and 23XI up for the season sweep.
RETWEET to congratulate @BubbaWallace on winning at @kansasspeedway! #NASCARPlayoffs // @USA_Network pic.twitter.com/2f9HXr9zR9
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 11, 2022
As Wallace hinted at with his shhhh, it was also another opportunity to silence his critics and trolls, whose hate against him is often rooted in thinly veiled (and sometimes blatant) racism.
The only Black full-time NASCAR driver at the sport’s highest level, Wallace has been on the receiving end of an abundance of hate, particularly since the 2020 season when he successfully led the charge to get NASCAR to ban the Confederate flag from its events and later was thought to be the victim of a possible hate crime (the FBI investigated and said he was not).
And after he won his first Cup race last October at Talladega Superspeedway, many of his haters used the weather-shortened race as a means to delegitimize his victory, despite countless drivers throughout NASCAR history earning wins that way and seldom receiving the same criticism. Never mind that Wallace continues to build his reputation as a skilled superspeedway racer.
His second victory, however, was a little bit different, and after leading more than 20 percent of the laps at Kansas on Sunday, there’s little for his petty critics to reach for.
Speaking with NBC Sports after his win, Wallace said:
“Man, just so proud of this team, so proud of the effort that they put in each and every week. Just thankful for the opportunity, right? Took this jump from an idea two years ago from a text from Denny before it all even happened. He was ready to get the deal done. Appreciate him. Appreciate MJ, … everybody on that side of things, everybody at 23XI. Men and women there, they work their tails off.
“Just so proud. Pit crew was awesome today. We had one loose wheel, and just thankful. Thanks for the opportunity, and thankful to shut the hell up for a lot of people.”
“It’s cool to beat the boss,” he added, praising Hamlin’s ability to earn a second-place finish after a challenging start.
Wallace also proved to be the second spoiler in the Cup Series’ 10-race playoffs. Only 16 drivers are currently competing in the playoffs, and Wallace isn’t one of them (the owner’s championship is separate from the driver’s championship). And after non-playoff driver Erik Jones won the playoff opener at Darlington Raceway, Wallace stole the second race, making it that much more challenging for title contenders to advance to the next round.