As the NASCAR regular season draws to a close at Darlington, Bubba Wallace stands 21 points shy of the playoff cutoff, a daunting gap that requires not just skill but a monumental push. However, Wallace isn’t one to back down easily, especially with the backing of his boss, Michael Jordan, whose recent motivational text has reshaped the driver’s mindset amidst this high-pressure scenario.
Wallace, racing under the immense weight of expectation, shared on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s podcast how a simple yet powerful message from Michael Jordan has changed his mindset.
After a difficult race at Daytona, Jordan texted him: “Things you want more cost more.”
This straightforward advice reminded Wallace of the stakes at hand and the effort required to achieve this monumental goal.
Logan Riely/Getty Images
“All day yesterday and all day, in the middle of the night, I’m telling myself you’ve just got to go out there and have the best race you’ve ever had of your life,” Wallace admitted.
Reflecting on his current mental state compared to last year, Wallace also admitted the immense pressure he felt during the Daytona race. This year with Darlington as the final battleground before playoffs—a shift in the NASCAR schedule that placed Darlington as the defining race over Daytona—he knows the climb is steeper than ever.
Wallace communicated a shift in his approach, focused more on his own performance and cutting out distractions.
“It’s just showing up, me doing all that I can,” he explained, projecting his determination. “We’re not out of it by any means. If you outrun the guys you’re racing then you should beat them.
“But we have to do a little bit of extra work and I’m excited to roll the sleeves up and do that.”
Darlington, described by many as one of NASCAR’s most challenging tracks, brings a unique set of pressures. Dale Earnhardt Jr. himself likened it to “the Everest of NASCAR.”
“It’s just how it can be sometimes, how this sport can be,” Tyler Reddick admitted to NASCAR on the race at Daytona International Raceway. “The team, everyone’s got to be jelling perfectly. It’s so easy for that to get a little bit out of sync, and then it’s easy for a day to get away.
“So yeah, honestly, I hate it for him [Wallace]. Again, like I said, I feel like everywhere we went till we got to the midsummer stretch around Charlotte, the 600 or whatever, I mean, damn. Even Charlotte, he was really strong in Charlotte. I mean, just every weekend he was out-qualifying us, faster in practice, driving the race car better than I was. Just, things would go south. It’s just, it’s how racing can be sometimes.”