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Bubba Wallace reacts to winning first career Daytona Duel race

JHby: Jonathan Howard02/14/25Jondean25

A big win for Bubba Wallace tonight as he prevailed in his Daytona Duel race. This is the second year in a row 23XI Racing has won a Duel. Tyler Reddick pushed his NASCAR teammate throughout the race and to the win.

This is the first Duel win of Bubba Wallace’s career. Now he is hoping to turn it into a Daytona 500 win. Which will be easier said than done.

Following his win, Wallace was pumped. First points race week as a new dad, has a new crew chief, and now he has a new trophy to take home.

“Pretty much Daytona 500 winners,” Wallace joked on X/Twitter.

Bubba Wallace was solid. He was confident, calm, and held a steady wheel. He handled pushes from Reddick really well and even when he lost his teammate on the last lap, he was able to bring the win home with a couple of simple blocks.

“Thanks. Man, what a night,” Wallace said after he got out of his car. “The crowd is loud tonight. Appreciate you guys. I hope that was a good race. There we go.

“Thanks to Tyler. That was awesome to see two team cars work together that well and learn a lot for Sunday. Did a great job pushing me. Our McDonald’s Toyota Camry was really fast. Two different balances from being in the pack to being out front. Have some work to do there.

“I’ve wanted one of these Duel wins for so long. All my buddies got one. Tyler got one last year. I was pissed off. I got one now. I’m good.”

Bubba Wallace holds off William Byron

Last year it was his teammate Tyler Reddick and tonight it was Bubba Wallace who won the first Duel at Daytona race. Winning a Duel race is a bucket list item for some NASCAR drivers, and Wallace is happy to have won one.

Bubba Wallace led the most laps in his Duel race. Throughout the entire 60-lap Duel, Wallace had tons of help from his teammate Tyler Reddick. They were both solid, avoided the wrecks, and got the job done.

Wallace finishes over William Byron, Ty Dillon, Ross Chastain, and Reddick to round out the top-five. Is the 23 going to find his way to Victory Lane for the Daytona 500 this Sunday?

The win tonight puts Bubba Wallace on the second row of this Sunday’s Daytona 500. He will also have a really good pit stall selection. Everything is going well for the new father in 2025 so far. Coming off that P5 finish in the Clash, Wallace is ready to get back to his specialty – superspeedway racing.