The magnitude of the Brickyard 400 isn’t lost on defending winner Bubba Wallace.
At the 16th Street entrance to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a giant banner featuring Wallace in his driver’s uniform hangs on the back of the grandstand alongside other former winners of the race, many of them already members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
There’s nostalgia involved with the most important of Wallace’s three NASCAR Cup Series victories. The image of son Becks, not yet one year old, lying on Wallace’s stomach on the asphalt near the iconic Yard of Bricks is indelible.
The one aspect Wallace remembers most about July 27, 2025, however, is distilled into a single word—winning.
“It’s a very boring answer, but winning in the regular season was something I’d never done in my previous two wins,” Wallace said. “That just allows you to unlock a new way of thinking inside the race car. The next four weeks after our Brickyard win, I didn’t really care how we finished, because I knew we were in the Playoffs.”
As Wallace prepares to defend his victory, the rules have changed. With the return to the Chase format this year, no longer does a win guarantee a spot in the postseason.
“But, yeah, the biggest memory is just winning,” said Wallace, who held off Kyle Larson in two overtimes to earn the victory by 0.222 seconds.
Chase or not, a return to Victory Lane this year would be just as sweet.
- Hurricane Hocevar makes landfall at Indianapolis Motor Speedway - July 25, 2026
- Alex Bowman isn’t running from racing He’s running toward life - July 25, 2026
- Bubba Wallace remembers only one thing: Winning - July 25, 2026