LOOK: Julio Jones meets Bubba Wallace before NASCAR's Enjoy Illinois 300
As the NASCAR Cup Series took place in the St. Louis area for the first time, NFL star Julio Jones was in attendance and met Bubba Wallace. The Enjoy Illinois 300 race took place at World Wide Technology Raceway (formerly Gateway Motorsports Park) in Madison, Illinois — just within miles of St. Louis and the Gateway Arch across the Mississippi River.
Julio Jones checks out NASCAR
The former Alabama star spent last season with the Tennessee Titans after ten seasons with the Atlanta Falcons and apparently made the trip northwest to see Sunday’s big race. The track used for the Cup Series for the first time in its history is a 1.25-mile flat oval, requiring plenty of precision to control the race.
Before the race, Jones was caught by cameras laughing with Wallace as they spoke before the race — a moment where the former Alabama-born sports stars got to connect with each other.
Wallace could certainly use some good momentum after a slow start to the Cup Series this season. Wallace enters Sunday’s race at No. 23 in the points standings, well outside of the top-16 and without a win so far this year. Unfortunately, the day wouldn’t get much better for him after a bump from behind by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. that sent him spinning around and raising bad blood between them and Denny Hamlin.
Wallace was able to avoid major damage in the spin luckily, barely tapping the wall and avoiding a collision with any other racers coming up behind him.