Published 11/15/2022, 10:15 AM EST
Sometime last year, NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace spoke about his sport. He admitted that it is incredibly tough as a competition, especially on a solo level. The 23XI Racing driver even chalked up a few examples to prove his point, namely Kevin Harvick and the Los Angeles Lakers. To be precise, he was referring to the time when LeBron James led the Lakers in 2020.
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Wallace said, “This sport is super tough, like a solo sport. Other sports are team sports so you do your job and as long as you execute it properly, that’s it. When it comes to motorsports, it’s a team, there’s definitely a team, but you’re controlling the ship. You’re driving the car, you’re doing everything on the track to get the best results possible. When you don’t produce results, and say you finish 2nd or 3rd, or don’t win time after time, then it’s tough. So you have to be able to accept defeat.”
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What did Bubba Wallace mean by this?
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In 2020 and 2021, Wallace endured a fairly tough time in his NASCAR career. He had observed that he had the 23XI Racing team in his corner since 2021. However, at the end of the day, he was the one who had to drive the car alone. His engineers and mechanics could not drive it for him. In that essence, motorsports can be considered a solo sport and it is every driver for themselves.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – OCTOBER 16: Bubba Wallace, driver of the #45 McDonald’s Toyota, waves to fans as he walks onstage during driver intros prior to the NASCAR Cup Series South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 16, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
He continued, “Motorsports is the only form of sports, where the champion loses more than he wins. Look at Kevin Harvick right now, he’s won nine races and we are on, I think we’re on 9 of 30. The numbers there is terrible. Fast-forward to the Lakers and the Heat. I don’t know the exact record, but I’m sure it’s more wins than losses. It levels out, and so you have to look at – okay I have to be able to accept defeat, but you learn from those moments of defeat and come back stronger for the next weekend.”
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Wallace was referring to the 2020 NASCAR Cup season, where Harvick was in excellent form. In fact, he and Denny Hamlin were matching each other on the win chart. However, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver could not go all the way and win the title, that went to Chase Elliott.
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