The real test will come over the summer but there has been a new Bubba Wallace dating back to the autumn months of last season.
Sure, fatherhood has played a tremendous role in providing emotional balance to the 31-year-old but this almost zen like quality dates back to the last July and a conversation in passing with fellow veteran racer Daniel Hemric.
“He said, ‘hey man, (are) you good,’ and I said ‘yeah,’ and he said, ‘good man, it’s never been that deep,’ and he walked away.”
At the time, there were a lot of stressors going on for Wallace. He had just been penalized for door slamming Alex Bowman at Chicago. There were contract extension negotiations and what role the charter extension negotiations that turned into a full scale lawsuit would play on his future and Wallace has always worn his emotions very visibly and publicly.
But as Hemric said, ‘it’s never been that deep,’ and Wallace has taken that to heart over the past half calendar year.
“I was like, ‘oof, that hit home,’ but I’ve also enjoyed being a new dad and enjoying life,” Wallace said on Saturday during his media availability at Atlanta Motor Speedway. “That’s always going to be there. It’s counterintuitive (to everything he has ever done) and I’m enjoying it while it lasts but I’ve always placed racing over everything and didn’t place anything in front of racing.”
Wallace says he has taken a step back because he realized that ‘something got lost in translation over the past seven years’ and concluded he needed ‘take a step back,’ instead of trying so hard.
The Wallaces welcomed son Becks Hayden on September 29, 2024 and the Daytona 500 was their first having a full family at the race track. They were not, however, at the track this past weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
“She was feeling bad so she bailed yesterday morning so I was like, ‘bummer’ but I also might get some sleep, so it’s okay,” Wallace said. “It’s been good but it’s also hectic at times because we’re getting ready to move.
“She’s been (working) overtime getting the house clean, ready to move, and (getting things into) tip top shape, packed up while I’m in meetings Monday through Wednesday.”
Wallace says he has had to learn to ‘compartmentalize’ taking the time to be a race car driver, dad and husband. He says he is having fun right now which is not how he has always felt publicly over a stressful past half-decade.
“If we can get him to sleep like he was two months ago, that would be great but yeah,” Wallace concluded with a laugh.
What about video game time, one of their favored pastimes?
“Oof, that’s something we have to talk about,” Wallace said. “We put him down at 8:30 and maybe game until midnight and then we get upset when he wakes up at 3, so he got six hours and we got three, so we need to adjust to his schedule. We’re still on our own schedule.”
Wallace underscored the importance of signing a multi-year contract last summer but instead pointed to his current spiritual stability and confidence as the result of his standing within 23XI Racing and Toyota Gazoo Racing.
“The most important thing is that I want to be competitive and just have a shot of winning each and every weekend,” Wallace said. “I have that now with 23XI and so when I don’t win, I can look myself in the mirror and somewhat take blame for it because all the resources are there and all the people are there and I didn’t get the job done.
“All the stress came from, look at the past two seasons, throw away the numbers, starting off hot, Bubba Wallace goes quiet for three months, and then needed to turn it up in the summer and it’s ‘oh shit.’
Wallace said that routine ‘beat me up pretty quick’ but it goes back to what Hemric said.
“It’s not that deep.”
Wallace pointed to the trust his team and manufacturer has him in now. He recalled company meetings when he first got to 23XI and Toyota and how Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin was prioritized in terms of feedback.
“Blaney (Ryan) and I flew in together and we were talking about team meetings and I was like, isn’t it nice that the words you say carry value now,” Wallace said. “When I started out as a rookie … I would say may car is loose or tight, and they’d look at me say ‘cool.’
“Denny or Kyle would say the same thing and they’d ask ‘why,’ and I just told them same shit. But my words carry value now and it’s so nice to have that.”
Wallace added that ne never felt like he was dismissed before but that the veterans were so more efficient than he was. That Busch and Hamlin eliminated variables that went beyond what the car was doing so their data was more valuable, even if they landed at the same place.
“I’m not saying they didn’t listen to me and they blew my comments off but it is different when you’re a rookie,” Wallace said. “But there’s so many things you could have done to produce the result you’re talking about so if you don’t nail every one of those scenarios right, they look at you and say ‘yeah, that happened.’
As a result, Wallace says that he’s tried to be an early resource for rookie teammate Riley Herbst to make sure he feels valued or at least understands the process.
All told, Wallace is in a good spot. He is sixth on the playoff grid and off to another solid start. The key is to avoid that familiar spring swoon and also stay level over the highs and lows, which as a father, certainly seems to be easier to keep things in perspective.
But also, when it comes to the racing, it’s just not that deep.
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.
