On Sunday, Bubba Wallace made history as the first Black driver to win a major NASCAR race on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s 2.5-mile oval.

According to The Associated Press, his history-making victory during the Brickyard 400 was not without its obstacles: serious fuel concerns, two overtimes, a rain delay, and having to face three-time Brickyard 400 winner Kyle Larson. Read on for more on Wallace’s career-defining victory.

Wallace and Larson’s final gap was 0.222 seconds

It was a tough race for both Wallace and Larson, with the latter trailing the former by 5.057 seconds with 14 laps to go. By the time racers had just six laps left in the race, that gap dropped to three seconds. With four laps to go, the yellow flag was raised due to rain. Racers stopped on the pit lane and regrouped.

Wallace managed to beat Larson through the second turn, but shortly after, a crash forced a second overtime, leaving Wallace in danger of running out of gas. He had a choice to make: continue on or sacrifice his leading position to refuel. Wallace told ESPN that he knew what he needed to do.

“The first thing that went through my mind was, ‘Here we go again,'” the 31-year-old told the outlet. “But then I said, `I want to win this straight up. I want to go back racing.’ Here we are.”

Wallace soldiered on and secured his victory, blocking Larson from winning the Brickyard 400 for the fourth consecutive time.

“Those last 20 laps there were ups and downs and I was telling myself, ‘You won’t be able to do it,'” Wallace shared with ESPN. “Once I’d seen it was Larson, I knew he won here last year and he’s arguably the best in the field. So to beat the best, we had to be the best today.”

Wallace said he was surprised he didn’t cry ‘like a little baby’

Reflecting on his big win, Wallace told ESPN that he was surprised he wasn’t teary-eyed.

“This one’s really cool,” he told the outlet. “Coming off Turn 4, I knew I was going to get there — unless we ran out of gas. I was surprised I wasn’t crying like a little baby.”

Wallace’s big win is his first victory in the series’ four major events, which also include the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600 and Southern 500. It also broke a 100-race winless streak dating back to the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway as well as secured him a spot in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Wallace also won in 2021 at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama.

A Black driver has never won the Indianapolis 500 and Formula 1 raced on the track’s road course.