Bubba Wallace becomes first Black driver to win a major race on Indianapolis' oval
He deserved every minute of it.
The 31-year-old Wallace overcame a tenuous 18-minute rain delay, two tantalizing overtimes, fears about running out of fuel late and the hard-charging defending race champ, Kyle Larson, on back-to-back restarts to become the first Black driver to win a major race on Indianapolis Motor Speedway's 2.5-mile oval. No Black driver has won the Indianapolis 500, and Formula 1 raced on the track's road course.
'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.'
His third career NASCAR Cup victory delivered Wallace's first victory in the series' four crown jewel events, the others being the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600 and Southern 500. It also snapped a 100-race winless streak that dated to 2022 at Kansas and locked up a playoff spot. His only other win came at Talladega in 2021.
The final gap was 0.222 seconds, but that was no measure of the consternation he faced.
Larson cut a 5.057-second deficit with 14 laps to go to about three seconds with six laps left as the yellow flag came out for the rain. The cars then rolled to a stop on pit lane with four laps remaining, forcing Wallace to think and rethink his restart strategy.
'The whole time I'm thinking are we going? Are we not?' he said. 'I will say I leaned more towards 'I know we're going to go back racing. Be ready. Don't get complacent here.'
Wallace made sure of it.
He beat Larson through the second turn on the first restart only to have a crash behind him force a second overtime, forcing his crew to recalculate whether they had enough fuel to finish the race or whether he needed to surrender the lead and refuel.
In Wallace's mind, there was no choice.
'The first thing that went through my mind was, 'Here we go again,'' he said. 'But then I said, `I want to win this straight up. I want to go back racing.' Here we are.'
He beat Larson off the restart again and pulled away, preventing Larson from becoming the race's fourth back-to-back winner.
The victory also alleviated the frustration Wallace felt Saturday when he spent most of the qualifying session on the provisional pole only to see Chase Briscoe claim the No. 1 starting spot with one of the last runs in the session.
On Sunday, he made sure there was no repeat, providing an added boost to the 23XI Racing team co-owned by basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and last week's race winner, Denny Hamlin, as it continues to battle NASCAR in court over its charter status.
'Those last 20 laps there were ups and downs and I was telling myself 'You won't be able to do it,'' Wallace said. 'Once I'd seen it was Larson, I knew he won here last year and he's arguably the best in the field. So to beat the best, we had to be the best today.'
The other big race — the In-Season Challenge — went to Ty Gibbs, who had a better car than Ty Dillon in qualifying and on race day. Gibbs finished 21st o win the inaugural March Madness-like single-elimination tournament and collect the $1 million prize.
Dillon, a surprise championship round entrant after making the field as the 32nd and final driver, finished 28th.
'They brought me money guns and they jammed so I decided to take all the money and throwing it to the fans and they were all wrestling and fighting over it,' said Gibbs, who also received a title belt and a ring. 'But it's super cool. It's a cool opportunity.' Tire troubles
At different points, Austin Cindric and three-time Cup champion Joey Logano appeared to be in control of the race, but tire problems took them out of contention. Eric Jones also was knocked out of the race when his right front tire came off between Turns 3 and 4, sending him hard into the outside wall on Lap 91.
They weren't the only drivers who made early exits.
Ross Chastain was the first out after just 18 laps when a tap from Michael McDowell sent Chastain's car spinning into the third turn wall and caused heavy damage.
The others who were out before Lap 100 were Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Cody Ware. Weathering the storm
Series officials were concerned enough about the threat of rain that they moved up the start time by 10 minutes. Fifteen minutes probably would have eliminated the rain delay.
But the threat of rain impacted the race long before the delay. Early in the second stage, some teams informed drivers rain was expected near the midway point and it seemed to increase the aggressiveness earlier in the race than expected. Monster advice
Cookie Monster made it to the track Sunday, too. The beloved Sesame Street character, who served as the Brickyard's grand marshal, attended driver introductions and took a handful of questions before the race and even offered some advice to the drivers.
'Don't stop and ask for directions,' the furry blue character said. Up next
Cup drivers will continue their brief Midwestern tour next Sunday when they race at Iowa.
___
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
4 hours ago
- Associated Press
NFL longevity demands wisdom as much as determination and talent. These seasoned guys can explain
EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — Harrison Smith, just like anyone approaching middle age, has learned to accept the realities of getting older. The joints, for one, don't quite move as effortlessly as they once did. So that's where the 14th-year free safety for the Minnesota Vikings has aimed his recent training regimens, customizing resistance exercises to simulate the stress that NFL games can place on critical areas of the body. Reaching at full extension to make a tackle at full speed puts the arm muscles and tendons in a vulnerable position. The more fluidly the elbow can bend, the better. 'All the strength work in the world isn't really going to translate to real strength on the field if your joints don't have the range they once did, especially range under load,' Smith said. 'I've come up with different ways to work out that aren't necessarily just the traditional banging weights around. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, but if you don't have your range ready, it's kind of almost counterproductive.' In a sport with notoriously short careers, as salary cap constraints perpetually conspire with constant injury risk and overall physical decline, the fountain of youth can seem like a unicorn. Smith's approach provides some valuable clues for finding the most vital source: wisdom. 'When you meet Harrison Smith, right away you understand why he might be the type of person to defy odds, and he's done nothing short of convincing us that over these few years,' Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said. The sturdy 30 From a famous quarterback like Aaron Rodgers dropping back in the pocket to a steady six-time Pro Bowl pick like Smith patrolling the secondary, the young man's league still has some space for gray hair. But sticking around takes more than just determination and talent. 'I feel great, actually. I don't feel like a 37-year-old. Not sure what they're supposed to feel like, but I feel a little younger,' San Francisco 49ers left tackle Trent Williams said at the beginning of training camp. 'As we get older, things start to change. I think you've got to pay a little bit more attention to what you put in your body, how you treat your body. Moreso than just being a football player, it's just a natural maturation of a human being. When you get older you can't do the same things you did when you were 22.' According to an Associated Press review of the 90-man rosters across the league last week, there are 30 players currently with an NFL club who were born in the 1980s. That's barely 1%. Not only has Generation X been long gone from the game, once Tom Brady retired in 2023, but Millennials are already in the minority. Rodgers, of course, is the oldest active player at 41, followed by New York Jets kicker Nick Folk (40) and Cleveland Browns quarterback Joe Flacco (40). The sturdy 30 includes six long snappers, two punters and two kickers, plus nine quarterbacks — the positions that usually produce the longest-lasting players. 'You have to evolve every single year,' Kansas City Chiefs tight Travis Kelce said. Smith is the lone defensive back. Kelce is the only offensive skill-position player who's not a quarterback. Williams and Arizona Cardinals left tackle Kelvin Beachum, now a backup, are the offensive linemen. Demario Davis of the New Orleans Saints and Nick Bellore of the Washington Commanders, who plays almost exclusively on special teams, are the linebackers. Then there's a well-decorated group of five defensive linemen: Calais Campbell (Arizona Cardinals), Cameron Heyward (Pittsburgh Steelers), John Jenkins (Baltimore Ravens), Cameron Jordan (New Orleans Saints) and Von Miller (Washington Commanders). 'I still feel great. I feel like I can go out there and dominate,' said Campbell, who returned this year to his original team, the Cardinals. 'I wish I had a magic formula. I think I've just been blessed. God's given me a lot of blessings to play this game I love.' Grinding it out The list has been trimmed, naturally, from last season. Nine players — tight end Marcedes Lewis, kickers Matt Prater, Justin Tucker and Greg Zuerlein, long snappers Jake McQuaide and Matt Overton, safety Kareem Jackson, defensive end Jerry Hughes and defensive tackle Linval Joseph — who logged time on the field in 2024 have not signed with a team this year. Their peers still grinding through summer practices fully realize they'll be permanently on the sideline sooner than later. 'I start a lot earlier doing my training. Just listen to my body when I need to take a rest,' Heyward said. 'But it's more just trying to get stronger as soon as possible after the season. Less time to recover, but recovering through the process.' Mastering the art of recovery, forever a moving target, is a primary focus. Moving around on Mondays after games can be a chore, but figuring out how to maximize those summer strength and conditioning sessions for a mid-30s player is also a challenge. Smith, a soft-spoken leader who'd much rather have a deep locker-room conversation about life in professional football than give the defense a rah-rah pregame speech, fields more questions from young players about recovery than any other topic. 'Sometimes you just grind it out and you don't feel good, and that's how it is,' said Smith, who also mixes in pickup basketball with his offseason work in his hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee. Pride and perspective are part of the NFL roadmap for longevity, too. Heyward's oldest son, 9-year-old Callen, has spent a few nights with him in his dorm room. 'There's a hunger there that I know I'm in a rare group that gets to see year 15, but it's something I constantly think about,' Heyward said. 'There's things I want to check off before I hang them up, and I haven't reached those goals yet.' ___ AP Pro Football Writer Josh Dubow and AP Sports Writers David Brandt, Will Graves, Brett Martel, Noah Trister and David Skretta contributed. ___ AP NFL:
New York Times
5 hours ago
- New York Times
NASCAR free agency: What we're hearing on Justin Haley, Daniel Suárez and more
The expectation going into this year's NASCAR 'Silly Season,' the annual free agency period in which drivers and teams solidify their plans for the following year, was that this would be the quietest in some time. Weeks after The Athletic published its first Silly Season report, the landscape remains rather staid. Thus far, Trackhouse announcing Daniel Suárez won't return in 2026 has been the biggest transaction — and it was a move long expected with Trackhouse having 19-year-old wonderkid Connor Zilisch waiting in the wings. Advertisement But even though Silly Season may be less eventful than usual — especially compared to recent years that featured a slew of big names switching teams and future Hall of Famers retiring — there are still some unknowns. Here's the latest on where things stand based on conversations with over a dozen industry sources. There is no hotter seat in the garage than Justin Haley's. How could it not be scorching, considering the performance disparity between him and his two Spire Motorsports teammates? Carson Hocevar and Michael McDowell each have been regularly competitive and close to winning. 'Obviously, it's been a pretty difficult season, in general, with where we are in the points standing and kind of what we've gone through,' Haley said last month, a day before finishing 11th in the Brickyard 400. 'Definitely not what I expected when I started in Daytona, to go through all we've been through. But just trying to find a little bit of a silver lining and get some good finishes by the end of the year.' Spire changed Haley's crew chief in the spring, going from Rodney Childers to Ryan Sparks, hoping the enthusiastic Sparks would help motivate a mild-mannered driver who sometimes struggles with confidence. But while there have been flashes of Haley fulfilling the promise that once had bigger teams eyeing him — like his run of three straight finishes inside the top 20, which ended Sunday in Iowa — he still has a long way to go to match Hocevar and McDowell. That ticking sound you hear is the clock counting down on the time Haley has left to improve himself. Spire's ownership group has been candid that it wants to see results from its sizable investment in the team. If Haley doesn't show considerable improvement, don't be shocked if Spire opts to go in a different direction, maybe even before the season is out. Right now, the biggest thing Haley has working in his favor is a lack of a replacement option that Spire views as an obvious upgrade. But should one emerge, and Haley continues to struggle, that clock on his tenure at Spire will likely hit zero. The big name on the free agency block is Suárez, who won't be returning to Trackhouse after both parties announced a 'mutual parting' earlier this month. Unfortunately for Suárez, he's entering free agency at a time when not a lot of viable options exist. Nearly all 36 full-time seats are already taken for next season. This is why many within the industry thought Suárez's best opportunity to reset his career was to take a ride in NASCAR's second-tier Xfinity Series, likely with Kaulig Racing or JR Motorsports, then reenter free agency a year from now in what is anticipated to be a much more robust market. Advertisement But Suárez is adamant that he wants to stay in Cup, believing a quality ride will materialize somehow, even if everything appears set. And the two-time Cup race winner and 2016 Xfinity champion may prove correct in his assertion. One potential option is if Spire elects to move on from Haley. Signing Suárez would give Spire a veteran who has won multiple races and would be highly motivated to prove he deserves to remain in Cup. Among the hurdles to overcome for such a deal — beyond Haley still being the driver of the No. 7 car — is whether Suárez represents a true upgrade over Haley. Suárez also would likely prefer the security of a multi-year contract, while Spire may want to keep its options open to pursue any one of several big-name drivers whose contracts are up at the end of the 2026 season. Although nothing has been officially announced, it's a given that Trackhouse will promote Connor Zilisch from Xfinity to replace the departing Suárez, according to sources involved with the team's plans. Such a move is a no-brainer considering how much Zilisch has dazzled in his first season in Xfinity. The rookie leads all drivers in wins and is currently riding a streak of 10 consecutive top-five finishes. His performance has created a lasting impression, even though he arrived with sizable expectations on his shoulders. JRM co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr., who Zilisch drives for in Xfinity, offered emphatic praise for the 19-year-old after he won Saturday's race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 'We're all kind of on the front end of witnessing this really incredible career,' Earnhardt said. '… It's almost whatever he wants to do. He has the potential to do incredible, incredible Hall-of-Fame-worthy things.' Dodge's much-anticipated return to the Truck Series next season, along with its plans to eventually re-enter Cup, means the manufacturer is going to need to sign teams. Dodge has had conversations with several parties representing teams, both existing and prospective, including at least one current Cup organization. The consensus within the garage is that Dodge would be best served by aligning with an already operational team that knows the ins and outs of NASCAR, helping to mitigate the typical issues that inevitably arise when a new manufacturer comes in. Advertisement Expect substantial movement on this soon. Even though Denny Hamlin was on an expiring contract, it was no shock that Hamlin and Joe Gibbs Racing announced last month a contract extension that keeps him with the only team he's ever known through the 2027 season. So why are Hamlin and JGR on this list? Because Hamlin made it clear he expects this to be his final contract, and the possibility he retires in two years is very real. Thus begins the process for JGR to begin identifying Hamlin's eventual replacement and then implementing that succession plan. The good news for JGR is that it has ample runway and doesn't need to be in a rush. It also helps that Toyota has several promising young drivers in its pipeline — most notably Brent Crews — should it choose to go this route. JGR is also an elite organization, making it a destination spot for any talented driver who wants to contend for championships. And as noted above, several big-name drivers have contracts coming up for renewal over the next couple of years. Inside the garage, the talk is already ramping up over who may be driving the No. 11 Toyota in 2028. (Top photo of Justin Haley: David J. Griffin / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Sho Tsuboi's Haas F1 test is an 'audition', says Toyota
Toyota has dismissed the notion that Sho Tsuboi's maiden Formula 1 test opportunity with Haas at Fuji Speedway is a 'reward' for his title success in Super Formula. The Japanese marque's director of global motorsport Masaya Kaji characterised the TPC test, which will take place on 6-7 August with the two-year-old Haas VF-23, as an 'audition' that will be used to gauge Tsuboi's future potential. Tsuboi will be in action on the second day of the test at Toyota's home circuit, while Haas reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa will take the wheel on the opening day. 'What comes next totally depends on Tsuboi's performance and on his communication with the team,' Kaji told 'This is a kind of audition, or selection. It's not just for his experience. We would like to assess his real level of performance. 'He must make a big effort especially to communicate in English. But the main target is to understand his potential. 'Currently his performance is the best among the Japanese drivers, so it's quite interesting for us, also for the other drivers in Japan and motorsport fans.' Ryo Hirakawa, Haas F1 Kaji described ex-Super Formula racer Hirakawa, who has made two FP1 outings for Haas so far this year and another for Alpine, as a 'good benchmark' for Tsuboi. He did however concede that differing conditions between the two days would make direct comparisons in terms of lap times during the test difficult. Tsuboi becomes the latest Toyota-affiliated driver to get behind the wheel of the VF-23 in Haas's newly-established TPC programme this year following Ritomo Miyata, his predecessor as Super Formula champion, and Kamui Kobayashi. Formula 2 racer Miyata sampled the Haas at Jerez in January, while ex-Sauber and Caterham F1 driver Kobayashi drove the VF-23 in June at Paul Ricard in a run aimed at enabling him to better coach Toyota's stable of youngsters in future. Kaji wouldn't be drawn on who could be next in line for an F1 test from Toyota's domestic roster, but stressed that results in Super Formula will not be the decisive factor. 'To be honest, we don't have any clear boundaries,' Kaji continued. 'Tsuboi has very good potential, so it's not only about his results. The test is not a reward for becoming Super Formula champion. Ritomo Miyata, VANTELIN TEAM TOM'S 'We will not have the same situation for other drivers [in future] who become champion. It is purely based on performance.' Following his run for Haas in January, Miyata has also driven in TPC tests for Alpine, firstly at Zandvoort and then at Monza. Those opportunities came despite Miyata struggling for performance in his second season of F2 with ART Grand Prix, although he achieved a season-best result of second in wet conditions at Spa, having qualified in the same position. 'At the moment, we want to give him as much experience as we can," said Kaji of Miyata. "It's important to give him the environment where he can focus on driving, regardless of the team or the car.' To read more articles visit our website.
