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Bubba Wallace vents frustration after suffering mechanical issue at Phoenix: 'So many f***ing problems'

Brian Jones Profile Picby: Brian Jones11/02/25brianjones_93
Bubba Wallace (37)
Oct 31, 2025; Avondale, Arizona, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace (23) during practice at Phoenix Raceway. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Bubba Wallace got very heated with his No. 23 team during the NASCAR Cup Series Championship race at Phoenix on Sunday. During the second stage of the race, Wallace sounded off to his team on the radio because he was experiencing issues with his throttle.

“It’s got half f***ing power,” Bubba Wallace, per Dustin Albino of Jayski. “It’s unacceptable. So many f***ing problems with this shit.”

It’s a tough break for Wallace, who was eliminated from the playoffs after the Round of 12. However, the 2025 season was strong for the 32-year-old because he clinched a playoff spot after winning the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis in July.

Entering Sunday’s race, Wallace was 10th in the season standings. Along with the win at Indianapolis, Wallace has recorded 14 top-10 finishes and six finishes in the top five.

After the Brickyard 400, Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic debated Wallace’s winning expectations. “He’s good. He should have won more races than he has over the past two years,” Bianchi said on The Teardown podcast. “I feel like there’s this talk of like, ‘Oh my god, Bubba won. It’s surprising.’ It’s like, no. He’s been good, he’s been close.”

Bubba Wallace is ready to win more races

Gluck chimed in and called out Bianchi. “You don’t think he’s been close,” he said. Bianchi then said that Bubba Wallace should have won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Homestead. It then led to Gluck saying, “This is such revisionist history. Don’t even pretend like you thought this was going to happen. You didn’t think he was going to win his way into the playoffs. No way. Both of us picked him to miss the playoffs, by the way.”

In his career, Wallace has won three Cup Series races. As the only Black full-time Cup Series driver, Wallace believes he needs to win more for NASCAR to grow.

“I need to win,” Wallace said on The Breakfast Club earlier this year. “There you go. I think that’s the easiest way to go about it. I need to win. Golf didn’t change too much, but Tiger [Woods] was dominant and created a lot of buzz. I’ve only had two wins in my eight years being in Cup. To me, that’s unacceptable.”