Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour presented by NASCAR on FOX - Bubba Wallace Interview

Episode Date: April 3, 2025

In this exclusive interview with Kevin Harvick, Bubba Wallace opens up about his journey in NASCAR to his success with 23XI Racing. Wallace discusses his evolution as a driver, what it takes to succeed in the world of elite motorsports, and how he balances life as a father. Plus, he shares his thoughts on his goals moving forward. Don’t miss this candid conversation with one of NASCAR’s most influential drivers! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After Homestead, I left there and I said, you know, I expect to run like this every week. And it's not just like, oh, this is above us good here. No, I expect to have the same speed for weeks on end now. Here we are. So last week you get out of the car, you're frustrated. Like, I've very rarely seen you frustrated but confident. And you look at that race and the things that happened in that race, you felt like it was a race that slipped away from you. Absolutely.

I, you know, I looked at, I got in the fence there to allow the 48 to get alongside of me. And that was my first mistake. But instantly, I went into, okay, we still got it. At that moment, you feel like the car is still capable. And the race ended, you're like, man, I was, I didn't really feel like I abused my stuff throughout that whole process. The car just went away. And so I was, I kind of accepted that. I didn't appreciate my mess up, but at the same time, I don't know if I was going to be able to hold them off.

I didn't lay over and didn't fold because of that. My plan was to let the five go up there and start battling. Well, 48 did what I did. And I'm like, well, never mind. So I settled in for third. And after the last two, three weeks that we've had, it was nice to be able to finish with a car that we knew capable of running well and had speeds. So there was a lot of small victories that day that allowed you to just appreciate the moment, even though it was defeat. Your growth has been really obvious over the last five years.

And when you look at how you handled that situation compared to how you would handle it, even just a couple years ago, has to be pretty rewarding for you and very productive for your team. Yeah, I think if you threw me in that scenario, you know, two years ago, I mean, hell, my race at Michigan against you. You know, I was down, defeated, and pissed off because your car may have been fast, but it was nothing like my car. Yeah. And I let that one get away. And I felt like I let Miami get away a little bit, but it's understanding the moment that you're in and being, allowing yourself. I think that's the hardest thing is we don't allow ourselves to see the good things amidst the bad stuff that's going on.

Not really bad, but you get what I'm saying. And so I think now just having a different perspective, taking a step back and taking some weight, off my own shoulders allows you to appreciate your, your, you know, your perspective a little bit bigger, a little bit wider. And so, you know, after Homestead, I left there and I was talking to my wife. I said, you know, I expect to run like this every week. And so I think it takes me back to the truck days where we were finished in second or third or first just about every week. And you were like okay we'll be back next weekend and it's not just like a oh this is above us good here you know we'll see him run well here and then we won't see him again no i expect to have the same

speed for weeks on in now so you bring charles in totally different perspective on how he approaches things how he talks to you everything about it seems like it's different explain to me how that flow goes now yeah you know you're always i guess i say i've always been curious on like you know what others thought in regards to, okay, what does Charles know about me before coming over here? You know, how does he view me as a driver as a competitor? And some, I may rub some people the wrong way because a lot of people don't pick up on my sarcasm, right? Yeah.

And I'm pretty sure you've been in that same boat, you know? And so part of me feels like I have to be a little bit buttoned up to start. The first couple months together, it's like, don't really show my true colors. Don't bring out the sarcasm card yet. Don't slap it on the tail yet. You know, do as he says and ask and respond. And I think, hell, week two, it was like back to normal, which is super nice. And I was hesitant about that because I didn't know Charles knew nothing about him.

I knew he was competitive in the truck series, but, you know, coming to Cup, we all know how big of a step it is. And I was worried that it was going to be too structured, too formal. And you know me, I'm the exact opposite of that. And it feels like it was a plug-in-play system, and we've just continued to pick up the pace right where we left off. So when you say plug-and-play, did he change the dynamic of your work schedule? Did he change the simulator? Did he change – was it the radio? What is it?

Because you look at all these crew chief changes, and even when I go back and I look at Rodney and everything just clicked, right? Like the conversations are normal. There's nothing out of place. You don't have to be anybody else. What has changed for you in the dynamic and flow of your week to make you so comfortable? Well, I think I looked at myself in the mirror, and I hated not being in the playoffs, missing it by a spot or two, whatever it was. And then seeing the success of the 45, not from a jealousy standpoint,

but it's like I have the same stuff, and I feel like I'm just as competitive as Tyler. I put all that weight on me and that pressure on me. So, you know, I'm back in the gym. Nobody's telling me, hey, you need to work out to run better. You need to be in more meetings to, you know, understand better. I took that upon myself as like, I'm doing just enough to get by and that's not okay. Yeah. And so I needed to take it a step up.

And Amanda told me last week, she was like, it is crazy how busy you are compared to when you were in the 43 or even just a couple years ago. You know, you're at the shop three days a week now. The meetings are more. So to answer your question, more meetings, which I have requested. requested, more sim time. I didn't really request that because I'm not a big SIM person. But it's an important part of the process. It is. It is. And I talk to you about that. And so we have two hours where we feel like it's beneficial to get through the changes that we need to. And Charles and I talked about this just two days ago. If the SIM is off and you can sense my frustration,

but it doesn't even have to get to the point where we're all pointing fingers at each other, they see it. They're like, let's just stop. This isn't beneficial. It's an off week for the SIM. We have a good baseline. We'll show up to the racetrack and we'll be fine. There's no need to develop bad habits. And so an understanding of that is super nice.

As Booty and I, we got to the point where it was like, hey, man, just go run five laps so you know what turn comes after what and then we'll be done. Which, that was good with me. I wasn't on SIM that much. But was there a piece that we were missing out? I don't know. And so I felt like Booty and I had a good system going, but then we've just kind of revamped our deal now with Charles and kept it going in a little bit different way. But just the communication factor, all things. You know, it's the answer E, all the above that have gotten a little bit better, a little bit more involved with.

But it comes from me showing up and wanting it and wanting to be a part of it. So you're obviously a new dad. you get Bex and then you got Amanda at home. How has the dynamic at home and the change at the same time, how much do they mirror each other as far as, it seems like you've had to change your whole lifestyle over the last little bit. And sometimes that is a good reboot, refresher on just, okay, let's just stop. Let's regroup. How much do you and Amanda talk about that? and how much does that factor in what I need to do at home and what I need to do at work?

Because for me, it was when Keeling came along, everything, all of a sudden, that perspective that you had was for a whole different reason. And the flow of everything, everything else didn't matter. You had your race car and you had home. And that was it. How much has that coincided with the team change and what you've got going on? It's nice when you get back at the right time and they're not asleep because you get, to enjoy being a dad. Yeah.

And a bad race or a good race doesn't matter. It's the ones where you get home too late and you have that time to sit there and think about it. But then you wake up and it's all gone because you're waking up to a poopie diaper or whatever it may be, right? And so it puts things in perspective for you. But I would agree. It just it allows to have that separation.

You go to work. You do your things. You do your meetings for a couple hours. Then you come home and you're a dad for the rest of the day. Yeah. And I think the hardest thing for me, it's a hard. me has been the patient side of things. As much as I've talked about patience and having some of it, Amanda is quick to remind me that I still need more of it because of some of the sleep this nights.

I'm sure it doesn't. Yeah. But some of the sleepless nights that we used to have, knock on wood, he's sleeping pretty good the last three nights. So it's those things where you get caught up in the moment because I guess you don't know. You've never done it. We're only six months in. Six months to today. He just turned six months. So you're figuring it all out. And so I think, I don't know, it's always, are you ready to have a kid? Well, you're never ready. You know, until you're no manual. No, there's not at all. And what you say works doesn't work with Beck's. Nope. And vice versa. So it's like, well, what do we do? Yeah. Well, you wing it. And it's trial and air. And I think it's very similar. I know that the home life and the child are very similar to what you deal with on

the weekend. But they're two different, there are two different situations. but very similar in how structure and organization goes along with being successful. So let's talk a little bit about being a dad. I know for me, when Keeling came, I wanted him with me all the time, and you're six months in, and that's going to slowly change as you start going through the process. Has there been a moment where you're by yourself and you're like, oh, man, this poopy diaper is a real problem? and I'm here all by myself and a man is asleep. And have you had to look at yourself and say,

I need to make sure that I get through this to change this, throw up, diaper, whatever it is? Let me hear one. Absolutely. I'll tell you mine first while you're thinking about this. We're driving up 85. Is you and Keelan. Me and Keelan.

And this, I smelled that we have poop. Yeah. We pull over a lot. the side of the road and the poop is all the way up his back. Oh, no. And he has crapped his pants all the way up his back. And I am not prepared. I am not, I have no option to look at the wife and pull my shirt above my mouth because I'm gagging. And we, we lay Keelan, I lay Keelan out in the back of this car and there is poopy diapers. And I have no clothes. I have no extra clothes. Are you that prepared yet?

Uh, she will have a diaper bag ready that has the clothes in it. So she, if I forget the diaper bag, then that's on me. But it's already prepared. So all right. I'm a step ahead there. All right. Well, that's good. Yeah. So when you, when you look back at, when you look back at everything that led you to go into 2311, you started at 2311, you've run 150 races, you're five years into this process. What has that learning curve been like? You've been through two cars. Yeah. What has the learning curve been like going from? starting at 2311 in the old car compared to where you are with today's car. What did you have to change?

What do you think the biggest change has been over the last few years? Obviously, you have a new crew chief. For you as a driver with this next-gen car? That's a good question because, you know, I look at when I joined 2311, it was like starting over again almost. From the team or just from yourself personally? From myself personally, coming from the 43. where we had at that time four shots to win a race.

And then you sprinkle in like an indie or somewhere else where we would show up and run good. And I told these guys to start that it's hard when you're thrown in a situation and you have that same scenario over and over again, you kind of mold to said situation of not being very competitive and trying to do everything that you can and it's still not good enough.

and so you bring some over the bad habits, your instincts from that moment and to a new team, and it all kind of feels the same. When I look at how we started with 23, we were a couple spots better than the 43 at that time. So I felt like it was a lateral move, but it was more so me not understanding the full potential

of our team, our people, our race cars, and just the opportunity that I had. And so that's taken me a while. And so we made the changes, had booty come in, figured out the new car a little bit. By the time that happened, a new car was brought to us. And so now it's a massive learning curve for us.

And it's taken a while to understand the magnitude of how every little detail matters from every person on your team. And most important, it starts with yourself. And so understanding how to get the most out of each tire on any given point. corner, how to load it longitudinally versus laterally. Like, I wouldn't be mentioning these words six years ago talking about it. I'm just like, I drive into this mark and figure it out from there. But I've been able to figure out how to manipulate this car when I'm in control of the car. That's been one of the bigger things for me is you've always told me you can't drive a slow car fast.

And necessarily I don't believe we have slow cars, but I think we have cars that drive me. and I struggle to figure out how to overcome that. As to where you've seen Miami, I was in control the whole race, and there's the speed. And so now we're trying to figure out how do we show up with that capability. It could be a 10th place car, but I'm in control. Let me figure it out from there. If we're a 10th place car and we're going to drop because the car's in control,

the car is in control, that's my disconnection piece there. I still got to figure out. But I think before when we started, it was just showing up. been racing a hard eye i remember coming here i think it was in the 43 um and i think it was race i finished 11th and i passed you i passed uh newman i passed surprisingly i passed newman we all know how the headache that was yeah um but i remember those days and it was and it was just showing up and driving the absolute hardest that you could instead of understanding now like let the little fish go catch the big fish later type mentality of like making sure it lasts i mean when i

past you, I don't know how I didn't crash into you and just move you out of the way, like you would see a rookie do because that's a mentality I had. And now I look at other rookies coming through like Carson or Riley. Like their mentality right now is probably just to match the pace of their competitors and go get some more. And it's so vague. And so when you can understand all the different avenues and boxes that need to be checked, it's just a whole new realm. And it's and it's, and it's crazy to think about. And it comes quicker for others, like Larson. If we introduce a new car tomorrow, who's going to be one of the first ones figured out? Right. And that's okay. You just have to do, I just have to do extra work to get to that level.

Yeah. When you look at 2311 and the guy that's one of the best in the sport is Denny Hamlin. And he's obviously the, he's the leader. Yeah. of what you guys have going on. But I don't know that he gets enough credit for his work and his commitment to not only his car, but the team, the sport. This guy is into it on a daily basis. Explain to me the process that he and the relationship that you and Denny have and how he, is he hard on you?

Or is he straightforward? What kind of boss is he? I would say straightforward. you know, him and I have a unique relationship. We always, I text in this in the off season. I said, hey, man, you know, we haven't had, we haven't always had the same perspective, you know, an eye-to-eye viewpoint on things. But there was a lot that you've taught me in the last year,

and then, you know, not missing the playoffs was big. And so I said, you're appreciated more than you know. So I appreciate what you do for us. But, yeah, he's a man of many hats. He's there just about every Monday for our team meeting for 2311. And then we all drive over to JGR for that meeting. And he's juggling multiple hats, multiple acts. But you can see him passionate in our meetings.

He's not saying that he's not in JGR. But when we start complaining about something necessary that he didn't have, he asked the questions on why and how. but then if he can't relate, then he basically says, you've got to figure it out. And so, you know, I'm keeping it very surface level,

but Denny does a lot, and it's impressive how he can manage both hats because you got all the racetrack stuff. He's about to have another kid now. So on the personal level, more power to him because it's his first boy, so either you or I can maybe give him pointers. But it's just a lot to be able to manage.

So I think he does that well. And when it comes to Sundays, I go back and watch the broadcast on a Monday or Tuesday, and we talk about all racing the boss and whatnot. The 11 car is not a boss. It's another competitor. So that's how I view him. Such an interesting dynamic. Yeah.

And if we get into it, okay. But it's not like an employee wrecked the boss or a boss, wreck the employee. It's two competitors going at it because it's not like I reap any benefits when the 11 car wins. Yeah. I mean, it's different for him. He reaps benefits when the 23 wins. Happy boss. Yeah, happy boss, right?

Yeah. But it's just straight competition when it comes to Sundays. So where does Michael fall into this? Tell me about his leadership and how he helps guide you. Yeah. MJ is more of the mental piece of it, the philosophical side of it. After every race, it's a good race or tough luck or whatnot. It's that side of things.

and more so because you can't really get technical with him because he doesn't really know much about the car itself. But he's always the glass half full. And I look at Vegas, he said, Great Points Day or something. And I said, man, it's tough. I don't know what else I could do to get this turnaround because I felt like it was starting to resemble my previous years.

my previous years of where it's good to start and start to fade off, bad races. And he's just said, keep to faith, keep after it, because you're there. And so it's more of believing in yourself. That's the perspective that he provides. And it's appreciated 10 minutes after he says it, not in the moment where you want to vent and be pissed off. It allows you to decompress and appreciate those. Can you win anywhere now? Yes.

Over last summer, I got to spend a lot of time with you. And I watch you race these legend cars with these kids. Why do you do that? And for me, and I think a lot of people that were around you, probably had a different opinion of you when you started from when you left. Yeah, yeah, I agree with that. I've always loved legend car racing. And I always thought that was one of the most beneficial tools to help me get to where I'm at.

And I think I may have told you this when you were getting started with Keynes. I said, you know, don't skip steps. Don't go from go-carts to a cup car. You know, it just it's not good for anybody. And so being out there racing, having the relationship with you and knowing Keelan was running, talking to him about his bad restarts that he always has, you know, you know, I wanted to show up and at least, you know, put my money where my mouth is and go out there. And boy, was that a mistake? Because I couldn't get out of my own way the first couple weeks. But it's the fun aspect. I like to show up and be competitive and have fun with the other competitors.

You always have the one or two that don't care that you're there and just kind of knock. Yeah, and knock you around. And it's like, okay, 15 years ago, this would have been a problem. Now you just laugh it off because I'm out here for fun. As frustrating and as annoying as it can be, I have to look at myself as the elder statesman of the group. And, you know, I can't, you know, go at somebody. It's more so of like, hey, man, like, that was dumb. Why are you running into me?

I can help you not do that. You know, like we can put our frustrations aside and figure it out together. And so I think now looking at that, it's, that's kind of some fun in that. Did you ever visualize yourself as being that leader? No. Not at all. And it feels like it's, I say something. And then 30 seconds later, I'm like,

who the hell is this guy talking? You know, it's cool because you learn all those things that, I guess just through time, you pick up on certain things to figure out what to say and what to do. Well, that's life. It is. You mature as you get older. Yeah, no doubt.

Two more questions. We'll go straight to my favorite question. What was your first car that you drove on the road? Yeah, first car was, it sounds very sponsorish, but it was a Toyota four-runner. I was with Toyota at the time. time so yeah to a four runner did you ever did you ever have anything that that wasn't just part of racing you didn't have you bought a car that is like hey I'm buying this car because it's cool

what you what's what's your favorite car that you bought right now so at 2020 I bought um I bought my dream car at the time which was an Audi R8 an Audi R8 bought that yeah really yeah I have that I got uh I'm good friends of Suarez so you know I got a couple of Ws I got a 21 win No Bus. It's a 64 and then a 66 Volkswagen Beetle. Yeah. Yeah, so I got a couple Harleys. As you went through time, we see a lot of these rivalries that have, you guys have such a unique group of guys that have come up together. You and Blaney and Chase and what a class to come through. Who, through the whole time, who was the most fierce Bubba Wallace rivalry? Man, like, who was the guy that you just were like, I want to kick his ass today?

From the start of my career? From the very start. Like is there one guy, not necessarily that you're racing with? What was the best, most intense battle that you've been through in your short career? Oh, man. You look back on it, you're like, that legend car guy? Was it in legend car? Yeah, I think it would, I would have to say legend cars.

And the competition back then was super fierce. You know, I'm going to go with Austin Hill. Austin Hill. Yeah. No kidding. Yeah. Man, we hated each other. Really?

like yes, we hated each other. And it was always kind of, I knew he was in trucks and stuff when I was kind of in Xfinity. And then we were at Toyota together, my first year, 2311, he was at Hattori in the truck stuff. And we were able to put all that stuff aside just from just being around each other. And now we go back and talk about that stuff. And it's, and it's nuts. Like I remember his first year Xfinity, I'm texting him like, hey man, like maybe look at doing this different.

differently like pointers and stuff. Oh, man, we hated each other. Isn't it crazy how those rivalries just become? Sometimes they become some of your best friends. Well, I hope you go out and do what you think you can do. Because it sure is evident that you guys are on point right now. And I love the frame of mind that you're in. So go out there and kick their butt.

Appreciate that. We'll do.