Bubba Wallace has been collecting points for the first 21 races of 2025, but on Sunday he earned something more important: A crown jewel trophy and a championship playoff berth.
The 23XI Racing Toyota driver endured a late delay and barely won on fuel to capture Sunday’s 29th annual Brickyard 400 in the second overtime at legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Ind.
After rain fell with six laps remaining and Wallace leading, the field sat through a red-flag condition for a rain shower, with the 23XI Racing team feeling they could only possibly make it through one overtime.
On the restart and with 10 of the top 12 on old tires and little fuel, the 31-year-old Mobile, Ala., native led both overtimes, had enough fuel in the second one and edged Kyle Larson by 0.222 seconds for his third career Cup Series win to break a 100-race winless streak.
Wallace, whose No. 23 Toyota is owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, led 30 laps and earned a spot in the championship playoffs by becoming the 13th different winner in 2025.
Wallace went from appearing to have a win with seven laps left in regulation to wondering if he had enough fuel in an uncertain overtime period. If he had lost on fuel, it would have damaged him severely in the points.
“I thought about … everything under that red flag,” said Wallace, whose previous wins were at Talladega and Kansas. “I am worn out, and that adrenaline rush is crazy. To overcome so much and to put these people here in Victory Lane, that’s what it’s about. It’s about these people that continue to push me (and) believe in me.”
As a team owner, Hamlin changed into street clothes and kissed the bricks like Wallace did.
“They deserved to win the race,” said Hamlin, who finished third after starting last in a backup car. “They were faster. They pulled away from the pack there. If that race goes green with no rain, they win it outright.
“Just a great, flawless execution day by Bubba and (crew chief) Charles (Denike).”
Ryan Preece and Brad Keselowski were in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Ty Gibbs won the In-Season Challenge’s $1 million purse by topping Ty Dillon in the head-to-head matchup.
Gibbs’ No. 54 Toyota finished 21st. Dillon suffered nose damage on the way to a 28th-place effort.
Mitchell, Ind., native Chase Briscoe led his first laps at Indy after starting from the pole for the first time — all 18 circuits — before Michael McDowell nudged Ross Chastain’s Chevrolet and sent the No. 1 backward into the Turn 3 wall.
Briscoe regained the lead late in the 50-lap Stage 1, giving the Joe Gibbs Racing driver his second stage win and the maximum bonus points.
Wallace followed in second, while William Byron, Tyler Reddick and Chris Buescher were close behind.
Late in Stage 2, Erik Jones’ No. 43 cut a right front tire and slammed into the Turn 3 wall to force the third caution, scrambling teams’ strategies of pitting or staying out.
Ford drivers Ryan Blaney and Keselowski stayed out to form the first row for a restart, and Blaney held off Larson for his fifth stage win this season.
In a backup car following a qualifying crash as the last driver out on Saturday, Hamlin came in third, with Byron and Brad Keselowski completing the top five.
–Field Level Media
