Bubba Wallace gives blunt answer on racing vs. birth of second child

Bubba Wallace missed the birth of his son, Becks, due to his NASCAR Cup Series schedule in 2024. With his wife, Amanda, readying to deliver the couple’s second child, due in March, the 23XI Racing wheelman isn’t missing out this time around. 

Ahead of the 2026 Daytona 500, Wallace made one thing clear. If it comes down to racing on a Sunday later this season or the birth of his second child, 23XI is going to have to find a replacement for at least one week for his No. 23 Toyota. 

“We’ve made the decision. I unfortunately missed the birth of my first kid; I’m not missing the second one,” Wallace told Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic. “It was actually Amanda’s call on the first one. She was like, ‘Winning is so important. I don’t see a scenario where you’re not missing him, unless he came on like a Wednesday,’ but Becks is an asshole and came on Sunday at two o’clock. But that was her call.

“This go around, I said, ‘I’m not missing another one.’ People that don’t know that I missed ask, ‘Well, how did you do in the emergency room?’ I’m like, ‘I wasn’t there,’ and then you see their look on their faces, they’re like, ‘Oh,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I was racing,’ and I don’t want to do that.

“It’s fine. I lost the race that day. It’s okay. I can get another race next week. I don’t get another kid. I will be missing a race if it comes down to that, and that’s it, final.”

You can’t blame Wallace for wanting to be there this time around, for his wife, his family and his second child. After watching his team’s co-owner, Denny Hamlin, miss a race last season for the birth of his child and still almost win the 2025 Cup Series title, it’s certainly something a driver can handle. 

The best case scenario is that Wallace is able to be at both — the birth of his second child, and whichever race is on the schedule for that weekend. If it comes down to it, though, he’s not leaving any doubt as to where he’ll be.

More on Bubba Wallace, 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season

With the Super Bowl in the rearview, Daytona is taking center stage in the sports world this weekend. During last weekend’s edition of The Big Game, Wallace made sure to point out how much he enjoyed Bad Bunny’s halftime show.

Wallace was tuned in like millions of other Americans and viewers around the globe. And he was impressed by the theatrics and the energy level the global music star was able to produce: “What a proud moment it must be for the Puerto Rican community!!” Bubba Wallace wrote on Twitter. “I enjoyed that!”

Bad Bunny’s halftime performance also included surprise appearances from Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin. It brought a little extra juice to the mix. Not that he needed any of it.

All in all, it was a fun event for Bubba Wallace and millions of viewers. Now Wallace’s attention will turn toward the Daytona 500, set to run this week to kick off the NASCAR season, and he’ll hope to compete with as much flair as Bad Bunny’s performance had.

— On3’s Thomas Goldkamp contributed to this article.