KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Bubba Wallace, a NASCAR driver, acknowledged Friday covering up depression “for many years” before breaking down in near tears during a media session ahead of Saturday night’s race at Kansas Speedway.
Wallace, 25, has struggled throughout his second full season at NASCAR’s top level, his best finish coming in 17th at Martinsville. The iconic No. 43 of Richard Petty Motorsports sits 28th in the standings, a long way from being in week-to-week contention.
Wallace was talking about the challenges facing the team when he said, “You try to be the best you can and sometimes it ain’t damn good enough.” He later admitted to experiencing “depression and everything with it,” and that he’s kept it hidden in part by getting behind the wheel.
“I’ll be damned,” Wallace said quietly, his blue hat pulled low over his eyes, “It all goes away when you get behind the wheel. It’s 16 years of driving. It helps. But it’s tough.”
It was at that point Wallace said, “I’m on the verge of breaking down. And I am what I am.” He then quietly buried his face in his hands and wept.
“It’s been a rough moment for a while,” admitted Wallace, an Alabama native and the only black driver in NASCAR’s top level. “Just trying to do everything I can.”
• Kevin Harvick scored his third pole of the season to lead a Stewart-Haas Racing team sweep of the top four spots in qualifying for Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway.
“This is what sports is all about – comebacks man,” Chastain said after leading just five laps.
Friesen took the first two stages for the first time this season, but a costly mistake of leaving the pit box early with 42 laps to go left him without enough gas. He held the lead after a restart with 16 laps to go and led a race-high 87 laps on the 1 1/2-mile oval, but ended up 15th.
Chastain topped Ben Rhodes by 0.483 seconds. Todd Gilliland was third, followed by Austin Hill and Brandon Jones and two-time Kansas winner Matt Crafton.
Johnny Sauter, coming off a victory at Dover, was forced to the garage after his 20th lap because of mechanical woes.
FORMULA ONE: Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton looked poised to extend their dominance of the series after clocking the fastest laps in practice for the Spanish Grand Prix at Montmelo.
INDYCAR: Swedish rookie Felix Rosenqvist won the pole for the Grand Prix on Saturday at Indianapolis by edging teammate Scott Dixon in qualifying.
Copy the Story LinkSend questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.