Race: Bubba Wallace (2022) s01e02 Episode Script
Great Expectations
1
Please put your right fist in the air.
We are going to take a moment of silence.
As marchers and protests continue over the death of George Floyd, more athletes are using their platform to speak out.
Thank you so much for joining us.
I appreciate, uh, you joining us here.
I'm watching Don Lemon.
This is the first interview he does with him.
Bubba has no prior conversation with anybody from the management side about this interview.
Only thing we said is, "Listen, this is your chance to speak out and be open and honest about things that you feel need to change.
" What's the next action, Bubba? I don't know.
Good question.
Don Lemon says, "What's next?" I remember looking at my fiancée, I'm like, "Oh, shit.
" I have no idea what this kid is about to say.
No one should feel uncomfortable when they come to a NASCAR race.
So it starts with Confederate flags.
Get them out.
They have no place for 'em.
My immediate reaction was, "Oh, my God.
" "You have just opened up a can of worms with the NASCAR fan base.
" "They are gonna hate you.
" It should not be allowed.
We should not be able to have an argument over that.
It's a It's a thick line that we cannot cross anymore.
And my second immediate thought was, "But you just opened up a door for a whole new one.
" "You are making change here, brother.
This is big.
" - Say his name! - George Floyd! No justice! No peace! - No justice! - No peace! He came downstairs, and I just looked at him, and I was like, "Oh! We're doing that.
Like" "That was big of you.
" He was like, "Yeah, it's about time.
" - Black lives! - Matter! I put my head down, and then I called my mom.
"What was Bubba thinking?" At the same time, I'm like, "That's pretty dope.
" Like This is history.
My little brother's making history.
It just made sense.
You are the one You're the only one in NASCAR.
You're the only one that can speak up and make a difference.
That was a very proud moment for all of his family.
- No justice! - No peace! - No justice! - No peace! As a Black man in this country, I was like "Dude, are you ready?" "Are you ready to deal with this? 'Cause it's about to be on and poppin'.
" "You're not gonna be able to do this once.
" "You can't call for the banning of this thing and then go back to racing.
" "This is your life now.
" No sooner is qualifying over than they get a regular war started.
It's that same old war that's been going on hundred years or more.
Now this is South Carolina.
The race is called the Southern 500, and they don't believe what them Northern scholars put in the history books.
 No, sir.
Looks like them fearless Southern boys is chasing the federals off the fourth turn and down the straightaway! Decades ago, NASCAR had a race at Darlington, and you can see photos of Victory Lane with the Confederate flag behind the winner.
Buck Baker has won the Southern 500 and the battle flag of his beloved Confederacy.
At many of the tracks, you would see Confederate flags.
And that was part of the culture.
The stars and bars fly proudly over 48 racing automobiles.
And they're off! When I was much younger, I would watch races like the Southern 500 that were broadcast on ABC's Wide World of Sports.
Would have these Confederate flags when they were televising the event.
And it was something I could never feel comfortable with.
And one of the reasons why, early on, I had no desire to race at NASCAR, because it wasn't an environment that I would feel comfortable in.
Back in the day, in the '60s and '70s, the flag itself was something that, frankly, we used in our marketing efforts.
In the early stages of NASCAR, the Confederate flag I think represented Southern pride.
I don't think, at the time, there was a lot of education around what it actually meant, the history behind that.
Growing up in the South, it means a lot of things to a lot of different people, but one thing it does represent is a lot of hate in a certain period of time.
If I'm honest, I think a lot of those drivers and people who flew the flag as a part of that sport at the time meant that for what it stood for.
Slavery and discrimination against Black and brown people.
For Black people in particular, that flag is just It was like waving red in front of a bull.
You know, it's hard for us to not be emotional about it.
It's hard for us to not look at that as a symbol of hatred, because that's what it was.
You know, I understand that there are some symbols that may take on a different meaning over time.
This is not one of those symbols.
NASCAR had tried to discourage people from bringing the Confederate flag, but NASCAR didn't wanna put rules on its fans.
They did not want to get into a quote-unquote "freedom of speech issue.
" What they're saying is, "We aren't gonna show it, but if you want to bring it" And so, "As much as we're not gonna fly it, we're not gonna tell you we don't want the association, we're not gonna tell you you can't bring it in," is what NASCAR's doing.
They're acknowledging the fact that a part of their brand is racism.
I don't know that this is gonna fly.
The president of NASCAR has to say, "This is what we're doing" That flag was the flag of a rebellion.
It's a flag of treason and racism and pro-slave people who wanted to destroy the country we now live in.
Last year, Bubba and I talked a lot, right? And I remember I was driving back from somewhere.
I was in my car.
Bubba had texted me that Sunday before he's going on CNN.
He said, "You're not gonna like what I'm gonna talk about.
" I'm like, "Okay, what do you have?" He said, "Don't think you've done enough.
" "I think you should ban the flag.
" I said, "I get that.
We're not gonna do it today.
" There will be a point in time in the very near future that we'll ban it, but it needs to be the right time.
It started with a T-shirt, right? It started with him vocalizing a little bit.
Then it was like, "Ban the whole damn Confederate flag.
" And it was like, "Okay.
I see you.
" Right? And so, Bubba forced them into a moment, whether they wanted to be there or not.
I didn't think Bubba was gonna be successful.
'Cause that thing is dug in.
It is at the grocery store.
It's on the back of cars.
It's ubiquitous.
Some people would say, "Gosh, they'll lose part of their audience.
" The fact of the matter is NASCAR's audience had been dwindling for ten years.
So how much worse could it get, versus how many people could they gain by doing the right thing and banning the Confederate flag? We rallied our senior people, and I asked them, "Do you want to take on this opportunity where we're gonna ban this flag?" "Are you in, or are you not in?" "I want what you believe is right in your heart, and what you believe is right for our sport.
" Went around the room, and they all said, "Yes, yes, yes.
" We agreed that there was no place for that flag in the sport.
There was no place for the flag in society.
And so, you're either on the right side or the wrong side of history, and we wanted to be on the right side.
NASCAR made an announcement that said, in part, "The display of the Confederate flag will be prohibited from all NASCAR events and properties.
" For Bubba to insist that NASCAR ban that flag took a lot of courage.
Um, it it was a profound statement.
I did not think I'd see the banning of the Confederate flag in my lifetime.
It was the biggest symbol of NASCAR, behind NASCAR's flag itself, that I can think of.
That was a huge pivotal moment for the sport.
A lot of backlash, but it creates doors and allows the community to come together as one.
The climate of the entire sport at that time, as soon as Bubba makes his statement to get rid of the flag, there were a large group of people that were all for him, like, "He's the best thing that's happened to the sport.
" There's also a very large group saying, "You are essentially ruining NASCAR by taking this stance.
" Who are they to tell us what flag we can fly? I feel they're taking people's rights away.
There are fans who feel that he has taken away their freedom to fly that flag, that there are people who view that flag as part of their heritage.
There are people who say, "I am not going to come to a race if I can't fly that flag.
" It was a rebel race.
It was all based on the on the Southern heritage.
Everything was rebel flag background and everything.
As the world is exploding, Black Lives Matter is all over the street, and everywhere you see Black Americans trying to dismantle symbols of racism, Bubba Wallace is like, "This is one I can take on.
" It made him an international figure in a sport that is not known internationally.
And made him a national figure in a sport that people who don't follow it condescend to it.
Going into Daytona for the 500 felt good.
The speed in our car was fast.
We were top of the board in practice.
Would've been cool to win The Duel, but we settled for second.
Rain picking up just a little bit.
Picking up pretty good on me.
Wheels, wanna go to the garage? If it's wet or hurts the car, I don't wanna jeopardize the car.
I'll probably just take it back.
Straight to the garage.
After The Duel, I'm thinking, "We got a great shot and a fast enough car to win the Daytona 500.
" You know, a few moves from Bubba here and there, he's gonna find himself with a chance to be up front and maybe even win.
Tomorrow, the biggest thing is making sure we start strong.
Make sure the car goes through the gears, he makes the first corners without smoke.
No real issues to speak of.
Everything feel good? Feels like shit.
Feels like shit? Change everything.
Flip the driveshaft.
Change axles, hubs.
Whole thing.
- Okay.
Yeah.
- Yeah.
Well, you're not leaving the garage either.
Fine.
I can sleep anywhere.
The progress of the team so far has been really strong, working with the pit crew, Bubba's comfort level in the car.
Everything's new, and so, the only way you get better is by working together.
Being the crew chief, I lean on two or three main guys to start.
The car chief, that lead mechanic, he's really the head wrencher on the team.
He needs to make sure the mechanical side of the car is 100%.
I'm in charge of all the mechanics working on the car, and what changes need to be made to make the car as fast as we can.
Besides him, the engineers drive the setup of the car.
They help the strategies, software, how the race plays out.
They depict what's happening in the car before Bubba says something.
The key people on the pit crew are a unique set of athletes.
I think people underestimate how good these guys are.
Not just any NFL or basketball player can come in and jack a car or change tires.
I'm Jorden Paige.
I'm a jackman.
Make sure the car gets up off the ground so we can put the tires on.
I played football at Clark Atlanta University.
I was an all-conference defensive end but I had a lot of speed, so I get around the edge fast.
Everything starts with you and finishes with you, so it's a very timely thing.
I have to be very consistent.
My name is CJ Bailey.
I'm a tire carrier.
I was running back at Fayetteville State, I was all-conference, all-American.
I help the changers get their tires back to the walls.
When you're jumping out and have cars coming in around you, you have to be aware of everything going on around you, at the same time trying to do your job as best as you can.
What is your schedule today? - I wanna get with Denny.
- I'm free.
It's a 15-minute conversation.
I want to hear from Denny some of the stuff I see you dragging the brake a lot instead of pushing, and I don't know what Denny would do in that situation.
You can't just rely on natural talent.
That's something Bubba has, so that's the first key.
I'm trying to give him the knowledge I've got at some of these racetracks that he has very little experience on.
And the more experience he has, the better he's gonna be at 'em naturally.
But if I can give him some of that insider trading now, it's gonna make him better sooner.
Text me if you need me.
- Want an umbrella, or - Nah, I'll hoof it.
- All right.
- Actually, that's fine.
Yeah, I knew it was gonna get heavy.
Should be pretty good.
I'm confident, but I don't like having expectations.
Just because when you get let down, that fall is It sucks.
But I still let myself have expectations.
I'd like to welcome you all to the Daytona 500.
It's certainly awesome to have you all here for our speed weeks.
Last year, we didn't get the opportunity to have these special presentations that are such an important part of the Daytona 500.
Driver of the number 11 FedEx Toyota, Mr.
Denny Hamlin.
You got a great chance of doing a three-peat and getting your fourth Daytona 500.
It's tough because it's harder than ever, you know? We're running tighter, in a tighter pack than we've ever run.
I just hope within five laps to go, I've just got a shot.
I just wanna be on the racetrack with a shot.
There you go.
Yes, sir.
Oh, oh.
Yeah, I mean, it's difficult, because I switch roles within just a minute or two.
You know, it's it's going to be a balance.
You know, uh, my focus is gonna be try to win three in a row for my 11 FedEx at Joe Gibbs Racing.
That's ultimately The biggest asset I can be to my team is to continue my on-track success with Joe Gibbs Racing.
And so, I gave Bubba a pat on the back, said, "It's all up to you now.
" The car's been prepared.
It's done.
Hit your points, your shift points.
Make sure you don't make any mistakes there, and give it, you know, all it has.
I hope to pass him in the final corner and they finish second.
That would be ultimately my favorite scenario.
I remember when Bubba told me about the possibility of them forming a new team.
He said he may be driving for Denny.
I said, "Denny?" "You and him don't see eye-to-eye.
Do you think that's a smart move?" 'Cause Mom's gonna ask the questions.
He's like, "Mom, we're fine.
It's business.
Business is business.
" I'm like, "Okay.
" I think that Denny is a good businessman.
So, I'm thinking, "Okay, Bub, you're in a good place.
" My question also was, "Okay.
Denny drives for Joe Gibbs Racing.
" "How does that affect you, Bub, if you're there on the track competing?" He was like, "Mom, we'll figure it all out.
" "Denny wants to win.
I wanna win.
" "So, nothing's changed.
" I'm like, "Okay.
Now, as long as they do you right, I'm okay with that.
" Me and Bubba had ups and downs just like any competitors would.
It's a lap away from the checkered flag in the Daytona 500.
Then there was the 2018 Daytona 500.
I got so many emotions going right now.
I wanna see the replay before I say anything stupid.
What are you seeing? Ah.
He says I cut his tire down.
Um, hey, we edged him out, we beat him, so it's all good.
You know, we had a little spat after the race.
Wait a minute, wait a minute.
- Denny.
- I'm I am.
I'm calm.
I'm fucking calm.
- Come on.
- There it is again.
I made some comments in the media.
He made fun of them.
I took it personally.
He took it personally.
I didn't like how the things went down.
But ultimately, I still respected Bubba, and I think that he still respected me.
And that was important, because just a few years later, I'm asking him to come to my bus to talk about driving for me.
He was pissed that I called him out on the interview.
And he called me.
Said I was cocky and that I cut his tire and just a bunch of bullshit.
And I was just like, "I finished second, you finished third.
Ha!" I gotta be careful 'cause he my boss.
Oh, shit.
So, this car here is my very first race car ever.
This is a Ford Probe, a four-cylinder, what they call a "mini-stock.
" They don't go super fast, but when I was 16, my parents got me this car.
Oddly enough, if you look at this car, it looks just like the car that I race today.
It's a purple and white number 11.
I race a purple and white number 11 now.
My passion for the sport started when I was five years old.
This very, very simple thing that happened to me.
I just went to a race.
At Richmond International Raceway, 71,000 fans waiting for this hour.
My parents always had season tickets at Richmond Raceway, and the moment the cars flew around the racetrack and I smelled the tires and the fuel and I heard the sound of the roaring engines, I was hooked.
My dad found a go-kart that was quote-unquote "race ready" for $200.
I remember he took me to a dirt track called A Million Motor Raceway, he sat me down in the go-kart and he says, "Okay.
" "This is how you go.
This is how you stop.
" "And this is how you turn the car.
Go.
" And he started watching me make laps around the race track.
And I'm sliding it all over the place and I just wanted to figure out then, well, how can I compete? How can I go to a racetrack and try to get a trophy? They put me in the car, and the rest is history.
Here they come to the line! This is the finish of the Daytona 500! Side by side! Bouncing off each other! Unbelievable! Hamlin by an inch.
Closest finish in history.
Wow, inches.
Denny Hamlin will do a few donuts.
Wins their first Daytona 500.
This car here is my very first Daytona 500 win.
As you see, I left it exactly like it was off the racetrack.
This is 2016, 2019, 2020.
When COVID hit, when the nation went on lockdown, uh, NASCAR was not racing for eight weeks.
You know, I'm big into golf, but I realized pretty quickly that I can't golf every day.
I knew that it was, I wanted to run a business.
I didn't know what that business was gonna be.
For me, team ownership is something that really piqued my interest when the opportunity came in front of me.
You know, this is my long-term plan to to stay in the sport.
And then a news article came out.
Kind of a, uh one that wasn't really real, and it says, "A current NASCAR driver, Denny Hamlin, and Michael Jordan looking to purchase a stake.
" And I think it was just a speculative article.
I'll never forget, I was on the ninth hole at my home golf course, and I'm like, "Should I send Michael this article?" "Let me get his temperature here.
" And I sent it to him, and he responded immediately, says, "Ha ha.
" You know, "Obviously, fake news.
" "Not real.
But if you want to make it real news, let me know.
" About 24 to 48 hours later, I flew down to Florida, uh, talked to him, uh, at the golf course, and said, you know, "Here's an option.
" "Toyota is is open to this.
" "JGR is open to this.
" Um, "What do you think?" And he says, "Well, let me get my business guys on it, and let me vet it, and, uh, and we'll get back to you.
" And in the end, he says, "I'm in.
" I don't think a lot of people know that Michael Jordan grew up riding dirt bikes.
Obviously, he went on to play professional basketball, and during that time, he was not really allowed to ride motorcycles.
After he retired for the last time, he took up the sport of motorcycling again.
He had started Michael Jordan Motorsports, it was an AMA Superbike race team that participated roughly from 2005 to 2013.
I ran the sponsorship division.
Here comes that big white Jordan Motorsports, number 23.
Michael and I stayed in touch over the years, and, one day, I hear an announcement that, uh, Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin started a NASCAR team.
When Michael and Denny started 23X1, there was this whole discussion about who's the driver that deserves to be in this seat.
To be the first one to drive for Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin's team is an honor, and they looked at the drivers that were available.
Bubba Wallace rose to the top of their list.
I think Denny respected Bubba from driving against him all these years.
He saw the fact that he has speed, that he's fast, that he knows how to do restarts, and all the things that you want in a young driver.
They wanted to provide Bubba the chance to have top-level equipment, top-level team around him, to allow his talents to finally shine at the cup level.
- What up? - What's up, man? Michael.
Good to see you.
Good to see you.
Look at this fella.
- What's up? - What's up? You good? I'm good.
Meet your driver.
What's up, little man? - How you doing? - Didn't know you were this small.
I'm thinkin' he's tall! It was the first time that Bubba actually had met Michael in person, which blew my mind.
You'd have thought putting this team together and making Bubba the driver, that they'd have had that face-to-face interaction.
But instantly, Michael has a way of putting people at ease.
Bubba's a very fun, chill, young, energetic guy, and Denny's like that guy who's been around NASCAR, understands the business of it.
To see these three guys together was like almost a perfect marriage of personality.
It's pretty real for me to be sitting right here with you three, right before the Daytona 500, right before the kickoff of the 2021 NASCAR season.
So, how was it for you guys? I'm excited, I'm nervous, even though I'm not getting in the car.
But I think the thing is, obviously, you and I, getting ready to play a big game, we'll be nervous, but we're in control.
End of the day, they're in control because they're signing checks, getting good cars.
The thing is, we don't sign checks to losers, so you gotta be careful.
It goes to show Michael's mindset.
Michael always wins.
At least, he's gonna put everything he can into winning.
I think that's the great thing about the team.
No one's hiding anything.
This is who we are, and, um, let's make this work.
He's gonna learn how to win.
He's got the talent.
We would not have invested in him and picked him if he didn't have the talent to win.
By the end of the year, I think he's gonna have an opportunity and probably will win at least a couple races.
If it's more, I'll be elated.
I'll be jumpin' off my couch when you get your first one.
Me too.
Everyone's a little bit on edge this morning, considering it's one of the biggest days of the year for us.
We're getting ready to roll through inspection.
So, it used to be that the cars had templates.
NASCAR would have metal strips that would go over the race car.
You probably saw on Days of Thunder.
They put this metal strip over the car, and it's gotta fit.
Now it's done by lasers, and essentially, they're shooting lasers all around the car, and they do a body scan.
Back in the day, anywhere there wasn't a template, we would either knock that fender in or push that fender out, whatever made that car go faster 'cause these cars race in the tight tolerances.
So, if you can gain ten thousandths of an inch, that's the difference in a car being a first-place car and a 10th-place car.
Went to the inspection, and, for some reason, we failed.
We didn't understand why.
We actually thought it was a fluke.
Dealing with technology, you're not ever sure what'll happen.
So, you can fail once.
Once is a warning.
"Hey, go fix it.
" Roll back around, try it again.
Made a small adjustment, and it still failed.
After we failed twice, we didn't make any adjustments.
We took the car, put it on jack stands, got all four tires off the ground.
Put it back on the ground, ran it through, passed.
The developing story where the 23X1 Race with Bubba Wallace the driver, it just passed the third time.
So, what that means is that they have to move to the rear of the field as part of the punishment for failing the first two times inspection.
What was the specific failure? Rear alignment.
- Rear alignment? - Yeah.
Bubba was slated to start sixth.
But, unfortunately, with the inspection issues, he had to go to the very back and start mid-30s.
You change strategy for the beginning of the race? No.
You just gotta race as hard as you can.
- Thanks for talking.
- Have a good one.
This is unprecedented.
It's been 27 years since we've had Dale Earnhardt, who has owned a cup team and driven for another.
There's a balance there that I've gotta have.
I've gotta stay true to my team, which is giving them a hundred percent of my effort and attention.
At races, I try to be cool, calm, and collective.
I was just excited to start the season off with a new team, new opportunities.
Be smart.
You know the deal.
Take care of that thing.
We got a bit of weather popping up.
Excited to be where I'm at, you guys with me, so let's be smart, have some fun.
Our season starts right here.
Welcome, MJ and everyone else.
It's been a pleasure building this team.
First race of many together.
Make it count.
Take care of it, be there at the end.
New chapter starts today, brother.
Let's go to work.
Yes, sir! And here they come.
Green flag! The 63rd Daytona 500 is underway.
NASCAR drivers probably don't get the respect of being the athletes they are.
I mean, being in that car for four hours at 140 degrees and the G-forces of a fighter jet, it's not an easy job.
What people see is us going in circles.
What they don't realize is the conditions of that track are changing every lap.
We're searching for cold pavement.
We're searching for a line that's different than someone else to make our car go faster.
What I'm doing every straightaway is figuring out how I'm gonna make this corner faster than the previous.
Still clear.
Outside now.
Six tight.
He's off you.
Two-by-two behind you.
Six is out there by himself.
Always a debate early in this race, do you want to take those risks and take it three-wide here in the opening laps of the Daytona 500? Five hundred! Five hundred miles.
You got a long way to go! There's such a mental chess match going on at 200 miles per hour in these races.
I think you gotta see situations, you gotta feel energy of the pack.
You have to position yourself mentally and strategically where you wanna be.
How are you gonna react? What's your escape plan at all times? That mental game inside those races is insane.
We started the race at the back, and it doesn't matter because you never know what can happen.
On your toes.
Middle of that pack makes me nervous.
I'm watching.
Just check up.
Watch the 47 in your mirror.
Outside.
Just keep checking up.
Spinning top, spinning top, spinning top! Unbelievable.
Crushing blow to so many teams, so many efforts.
That it Goes into having fast cars and being at this Daytona 500.
That was a lot of heavy hitters in this one.
Man, that took out a lot of race cars and a lot of great race cars.
Wow.
Unbelievable.
Denny Hamlin's decision to drop to the back with Bubba Wallace.
He took a bad situation, and that sent him to the back, but ended up being pretty lucky for him in this situation.
Bubba getting sent to the back for inspection issues was a blessing in disguise for us.
More than likely, he'd have been in that first wreck.
I feel that shifted the whole vibe.
I mean, half the field was destroyed, and so that ultimately changed the whole outcome of the race.
Those that didn't get caught up in that, it's a total reset.
Unfortunately, it came at a huge cost to 16 cars.
Please take the necessary precautions.
Now the words you've been waiting six and a half hours to hear.
Fans, thanks for sticking with us as we get ready to start restart Daytona 500.
Here we go.
NASCAR divided each race into three stages.
Stages in NASCAR are kind of like quarters in basketball, periods in hockey, except you get points at the end of the stage if you finish in the top ten, so it matters if you're running well early in a race.
And NASCAR designed this in order to reward teams who have good starts to races and maybe have something bad happen later in the race, and also to push drivers to lead laps early in the race, to push them to make passes for 10th, for 8th, for 6th, early in the race rather than just riding around.
All right.
One to go in Stage 1.
Hamlin won a league-leading 11 stages in 2020.
And here they come to the line - to complete Stage 1! - No sign of Bubba Wallace! Denny Hamlin, the winner of Stage 1.
Not over yet, man.
We got a long way to go.
Here they come, Stage 2.
So, in drafting-type races, your Daytonas, your Talladegas, the person who's up front is the one that manipulates the air the best.
Everyone is holding the gas all the way wide open.
No one's touching the brake.
You have to figure out how can you use cars around you to propel yourself forward? With these types of cars in this racing package, you mostly get your speed from the car behind you.
The closer he is to your rear bumper, the further it shoots your car out.
He doesn't even have to touch you.
It's just his nose getting close to your rear bumper pushes your car forward and keeps you out front.
Can't do it alone on these types of tracks.
You have to have cars behind you, and you have to have cars willing to work with you to go forward.
And I think that's the key I've found that has been good for me over the years is I've had guys help me at the right time.
It propelled me forward and made the right moves.
Denny Hamlin backed up and got a big push from the 23, Bubba Wallace Jr.
, drove right by Kevin Harvick.
Denny Hamlin trying to do what no driver has ever done and win his third Daytona 500 in a row.
He is your Toyota top performer with 75 to go.
Bubba Wallace in second.
I think Wallace will stay on the rear bumper, the 11 of Denny Hamlin.
They're driving like it's the last lap of the 500, not the stage.
One to go! Great move by Bubba Wallace.
Didn't think he'd do it! I thought he'd stick with Hamlin! I didn't realize until the race is over that he was the first African-American to ever lead the Daytona 500.
I mean, this is our biggest race.
It's got so much history.
It was great for him to have that accomplishment.
Oh! Bubba Wallace gets sideways.
That was close! Last lap of Stage 2, Denny on the outside, I'm on the inside.
My spotter was like, "Gonna be a drag race between you two, so duke it out.
" On the last lap, I'm battling him for the stage win and yelling in my car, "Pull up in front of me," because I'd be fine, pushing him, but he tried to block too many lanes at one time and caught himself in no man's land.
Here they come for the green and white checkers to end Stage 2.
Hamlin again.
I had no choice but to go for it for my team and get the win, but he should have just trusted that his teammate, me, was gonna push him to victory.
We could have gotten a stage win, which would have been huge.
So, it's just like Damn.
It was a high and low moment.
We ended up third in that stage.
I-I gave away a win, just just being too conservative.
All right, Bubba, Freddie, crew.
Game faces back on.
Got work to do right away.
Let's get to it.
Happy Monday on the East Coast.
Thanks for staying with us.
Stage 3, Denny Hamlin.
Here we go.
Denny Hamlin, the Stage 2 winner, has now won four straight mid-race stages in the Daytona 500.
We might see history tonight, guys.
Among the memorable three-peats, this would rank up there, should it happen for Denny Hamlin.
We've seen this happen all night long.
These guys are in line.
They're not in line because they can't pass.
They are in line to get ready for the end of this race.
"How do I position myself?" "What do I have to do to find a way to be at the front when this thing is over?" You have to figure out where you need to be on what lap to give yourself a chance.
As long as I'm within the top 15 with five to go, I feel like I can win.
Now if they're single file, I'm in trouble.
I've gotta have the cars disturbing air.
This is gonna be a huge run coming.
And Hamlin's alone.
He has no friends.
So he can't block more than one lane at a time.
Kyle Busch not close enough to help.
Here come the Fords led by Logano.
I've got a vibration.
Word from the pit says everything's tight.
This is gonna be trouble for Hamlin.
He got a big run, he tried to pull out, but he's all by himself.
Feels like a bad set of tires.
Vibration right now.
Ahh.
It's crucial to get all those lugs tight, and if you don't, you get a vibration.
If you keep running, the vibration gets worse, gets worse, and eventually the wheel will break off 'cause the wheel isn't tight to the hub.
He'll be coming to you.
Be ready.
We are in the dog spot.
You have to execute every time under pressure.
The faster the better, but you can't have loose wheels, you can't have pit stop errors.
It's a never-ending process to be better.
What's wrong with the tire? Looks like loose right front.
A loose wheel killed our chances there at winning.
Any time you pit by yourself off-sequence at Daytona, that's it.
So here's Hamlin behind Wallace, who's now a lap down, has little to lose.
Can Bubba drop down and help his co-owner of his team, Denny Hamlin, get back to the front? You can help him.
When they're lined up We're seeing Denny make all kinds of aggressive moves.
He'll make one spot up every once in a while.
Then he loses, goes back to the back.
He's trying really hard.
He can't do it by himself, so, yes, Bubba can help him.
I saw Bubba come back and then form up to our pack, and I'm thinking, "Okay.
At some point somebody's going to make a move.
" - There he goes.
- Big run.
Watch what happens behind these guys.
- That's gonna shake everything up.
- It's on.
The tough part is nobody really got organized to make a run at the lead, so when the move finally got made between the two leaders, and it started disturbing the air, that's when I started making my move towards the front.
- Runs on top Teammates! - Whoa! Around they go in a hard crash! I can't see anything.
You feel the heat from the fire.
Those were huge flames.
Everything was bright.
But if there was a camera looking back at me, I literally had a deadpan the whole time.
Just "Is this over with yet?" I I don't know why.
I was so annoyed that we were in the wreck, and it was like, "Dude, get us out.
" "We hit, I'm fine.
I'm all good.
Nothing hurt.
" And Michael McDowell has won the Daytona 500.
How about that! We had to settle for a fifth-place finish.
I was disappointed that we didn't get three in a row and make history, do something that nobody else has done, but there was nothing I could've done differently, in my opinion, uh, to change the outcome of that race.
We wrecked a race car for no reason.
I should have just bailed out sooner.
And so that was a tough thing.
It was like, "Man, we wrecked a really fast race car.
" You know, we can build one like it, but is it really like it? Yeah.
Bubba's racing IQ is above his experience level.
Is it at the top-notch where the experienced veterans are? No.
This is gonna be a learning curve.
He's not gonna just be a star overnight.
And it's not gonna happen in a year either.
It's gonna be a progression.
It's gonna take time.
You know, the sport ain't easy.
It's tough.
You got to be able to know how to lose.
- See you.
- See ya.
That could be finishing second, which is a good day, but you still lost.
You gotta be able to accept defeat, and take it well, and build off that to be successful.
But still I mean, you're gonna get your ass kicked.
A lot.
Darrell Wallace Jr.
, second year in a row.
Gonna win in Martinsville! Bubba grew up winning.
When you're not winning anymore, that's pressure in itself.
special Black Lives Matter paint scheme.
He knew this was going to make some people uncomfortable.
Your Dirt Track 2021! - Wrestlemania! - Whoo! How cool is this? They just need a solid, uneventful finish.
Oh! He spun! Bubba goes around! Oh, oh my God I've got to make it to the end It's far All my life, I've been counted out All my life has been hard, hard Hard, hard And oh my God I've got to make it to the end It's far The sun is burning And it's getting hot Feeling so alone, alone There's only one thing left to do I put the pedal to the floor I put the pedal to the floor I put the pedal to the floor I put the pedal to the They're coming for my head Leaving just to see my shame I think they want me dead, dead But no, I won't give up And no, I can't give in I'm in my God, you know I'm gonna win They're coming for my head Leaving just to see my shame I think they want me dead, dead But no, I won't give up To know I can't give in I'm in my And God you know I'm gonna win I'm gonna win, oh
We are going to take a moment of silence.
As marchers and protests continue over the death of George Floyd, more athletes are using their platform to speak out.
Thank you so much for joining us.
I appreciate, uh, you joining us here.
I'm watching Don Lemon.
This is the first interview he does with him.
Bubba has no prior conversation with anybody from the management side about this interview.
Only thing we said is, "Listen, this is your chance to speak out and be open and honest about things that you feel need to change.
" What's the next action, Bubba? I don't know.
Good question.
Don Lemon says, "What's next?" I remember looking at my fiancée, I'm like, "Oh, shit.
" I have no idea what this kid is about to say.
No one should feel uncomfortable when they come to a NASCAR race.
So it starts with Confederate flags.
Get them out.
They have no place for 'em.
My immediate reaction was, "Oh, my God.
" "You have just opened up a can of worms with the NASCAR fan base.
" "They are gonna hate you.
" It should not be allowed.
We should not be able to have an argument over that.
It's a It's a thick line that we cannot cross anymore.
And my second immediate thought was, "But you just opened up a door for a whole new one.
" "You are making change here, brother.
This is big.
" - Say his name! - George Floyd! No justice! No peace! - No justice! - No peace! He came downstairs, and I just looked at him, and I was like, "Oh! We're doing that.
Like" "That was big of you.
" He was like, "Yeah, it's about time.
" - Black lives! - Matter! I put my head down, and then I called my mom.
"What was Bubba thinking?" At the same time, I'm like, "That's pretty dope.
" Like This is history.
My little brother's making history.
It just made sense.
You are the one You're the only one in NASCAR.
You're the only one that can speak up and make a difference.
That was a very proud moment for all of his family.
- No justice! - No peace! - No justice! - No peace! As a Black man in this country, I was like "Dude, are you ready?" "Are you ready to deal with this? 'Cause it's about to be on and poppin'.
" "You're not gonna be able to do this once.
" "You can't call for the banning of this thing and then go back to racing.
" "This is your life now.
" No sooner is qualifying over than they get a regular war started.
It's that same old war that's been going on hundred years or more.
Now this is South Carolina.
The race is called the Southern 500, and they don't believe what them Northern scholars put in the history books.
 No, sir.
Looks like them fearless Southern boys is chasing the federals off the fourth turn and down the straightaway! Decades ago, NASCAR had a race at Darlington, and you can see photos of Victory Lane with the Confederate flag behind the winner.
Buck Baker has won the Southern 500 and the battle flag of his beloved Confederacy.
At many of the tracks, you would see Confederate flags.
And that was part of the culture.
The stars and bars fly proudly over 48 racing automobiles.
And they're off! When I was much younger, I would watch races like the Southern 500 that were broadcast on ABC's Wide World of Sports.
Would have these Confederate flags when they were televising the event.
And it was something I could never feel comfortable with.
And one of the reasons why, early on, I had no desire to race at NASCAR, because it wasn't an environment that I would feel comfortable in.
Back in the day, in the '60s and '70s, the flag itself was something that, frankly, we used in our marketing efforts.
In the early stages of NASCAR, the Confederate flag I think represented Southern pride.
I don't think, at the time, there was a lot of education around what it actually meant, the history behind that.
Growing up in the South, it means a lot of things to a lot of different people, but one thing it does represent is a lot of hate in a certain period of time.
If I'm honest, I think a lot of those drivers and people who flew the flag as a part of that sport at the time meant that for what it stood for.
Slavery and discrimination against Black and brown people.
For Black people in particular, that flag is just It was like waving red in front of a bull.
You know, it's hard for us to not be emotional about it.
It's hard for us to not look at that as a symbol of hatred, because that's what it was.
You know, I understand that there are some symbols that may take on a different meaning over time.
This is not one of those symbols.
NASCAR had tried to discourage people from bringing the Confederate flag, but NASCAR didn't wanna put rules on its fans.
They did not want to get into a quote-unquote "freedom of speech issue.
" What they're saying is, "We aren't gonna show it, but if you want to bring it" And so, "As much as we're not gonna fly it, we're not gonna tell you we don't want the association, we're not gonna tell you you can't bring it in," is what NASCAR's doing.
They're acknowledging the fact that a part of their brand is racism.
I don't know that this is gonna fly.
The president of NASCAR has to say, "This is what we're doing" That flag was the flag of a rebellion.
It's a flag of treason and racism and pro-slave people who wanted to destroy the country we now live in.
Last year, Bubba and I talked a lot, right? And I remember I was driving back from somewhere.
I was in my car.
Bubba had texted me that Sunday before he's going on CNN.
He said, "You're not gonna like what I'm gonna talk about.
" I'm like, "Okay, what do you have?" He said, "Don't think you've done enough.
" "I think you should ban the flag.
" I said, "I get that.
We're not gonna do it today.
" There will be a point in time in the very near future that we'll ban it, but it needs to be the right time.
It started with a T-shirt, right? It started with him vocalizing a little bit.
Then it was like, "Ban the whole damn Confederate flag.
" And it was like, "Okay.
I see you.
" Right? And so, Bubba forced them into a moment, whether they wanted to be there or not.
I didn't think Bubba was gonna be successful.
'Cause that thing is dug in.
It is at the grocery store.
It's on the back of cars.
It's ubiquitous.
Some people would say, "Gosh, they'll lose part of their audience.
" The fact of the matter is NASCAR's audience had been dwindling for ten years.
So how much worse could it get, versus how many people could they gain by doing the right thing and banning the Confederate flag? We rallied our senior people, and I asked them, "Do you want to take on this opportunity where we're gonna ban this flag?" "Are you in, or are you not in?" "I want what you believe is right in your heart, and what you believe is right for our sport.
" Went around the room, and they all said, "Yes, yes, yes.
" We agreed that there was no place for that flag in the sport.
There was no place for the flag in society.
And so, you're either on the right side or the wrong side of history, and we wanted to be on the right side.
NASCAR made an announcement that said, in part, "The display of the Confederate flag will be prohibited from all NASCAR events and properties.
" For Bubba to insist that NASCAR ban that flag took a lot of courage.
Um, it it was a profound statement.
I did not think I'd see the banning of the Confederate flag in my lifetime.
It was the biggest symbol of NASCAR, behind NASCAR's flag itself, that I can think of.
That was a huge pivotal moment for the sport.
A lot of backlash, but it creates doors and allows the community to come together as one.
The climate of the entire sport at that time, as soon as Bubba makes his statement to get rid of the flag, there were a large group of people that were all for him, like, "He's the best thing that's happened to the sport.
" There's also a very large group saying, "You are essentially ruining NASCAR by taking this stance.
" Who are they to tell us what flag we can fly? I feel they're taking people's rights away.
There are fans who feel that he has taken away their freedom to fly that flag, that there are people who view that flag as part of their heritage.
There are people who say, "I am not going to come to a race if I can't fly that flag.
" It was a rebel race.
It was all based on the on the Southern heritage.
Everything was rebel flag background and everything.
As the world is exploding, Black Lives Matter is all over the street, and everywhere you see Black Americans trying to dismantle symbols of racism, Bubba Wallace is like, "This is one I can take on.
" It made him an international figure in a sport that is not known internationally.
And made him a national figure in a sport that people who don't follow it condescend to it.
Going into Daytona for the 500 felt good.
The speed in our car was fast.
We were top of the board in practice.
Would've been cool to win The Duel, but we settled for second.
Rain picking up just a little bit.
Picking up pretty good on me.
Wheels, wanna go to the garage? If it's wet or hurts the car, I don't wanna jeopardize the car.
I'll probably just take it back.
Straight to the garage.
After The Duel, I'm thinking, "We got a great shot and a fast enough car to win the Daytona 500.
" You know, a few moves from Bubba here and there, he's gonna find himself with a chance to be up front and maybe even win.
Tomorrow, the biggest thing is making sure we start strong.
Make sure the car goes through the gears, he makes the first corners without smoke.
No real issues to speak of.
Everything feel good? Feels like shit.
Feels like shit? Change everything.
Flip the driveshaft.
Change axles, hubs.
Whole thing.
- Okay.
Yeah.
- Yeah.
Well, you're not leaving the garage either.
Fine.
I can sleep anywhere.
The progress of the team so far has been really strong, working with the pit crew, Bubba's comfort level in the car.
Everything's new, and so, the only way you get better is by working together.
Being the crew chief, I lean on two or three main guys to start.
The car chief, that lead mechanic, he's really the head wrencher on the team.
He needs to make sure the mechanical side of the car is 100%.
I'm in charge of all the mechanics working on the car, and what changes need to be made to make the car as fast as we can.
Besides him, the engineers drive the setup of the car.
They help the strategies, software, how the race plays out.
They depict what's happening in the car before Bubba says something.
The key people on the pit crew are a unique set of athletes.
I think people underestimate how good these guys are.
Not just any NFL or basketball player can come in and jack a car or change tires.
I'm Jorden Paige.
I'm a jackman.
Make sure the car gets up off the ground so we can put the tires on.
I played football at Clark Atlanta University.
I was an all-conference defensive end but I had a lot of speed, so I get around the edge fast.
Everything starts with you and finishes with you, so it's a very timely thing.
I have to be very consistent.
My name is CJ Bailey.
I'm a tire carrier.
I was running back at Fayetteville State, I was all-conference, all-American.
I help the changers get their tires back to the walls.
When you're jumping out and have cars coming in around you, you have to be aware of everything going on around you, at the same time trying to do your job as best as you can.
What is your schedule today? - I wanna get with Denny.
- I'm free.
It's a 15-minute conversation.
I want to hear from Denny some of the stuff I see you dragging the brake a lot instead of pushing, and I don't know what Denny would do in that situation.
You can't just rely on natural talent.
That's something Bubba has, so that's the first key.
I'm trying to give him the knowledge I've got at some of these racetracks that he has very little experience on.
And the more experience he has, the better he's gonna be at 'em naturally.
But if I can give him some of that insider trading now, it's gonna make him better sooner.
Text me if you need me.
- Want an umbrella, or - Nah, I'll hoof it.
- All right.
- Actually, that's fine.
Yeah, I knew it was gonna get heavy.
Should be pretty good.
I'm confident, but I don't like having expectations.
Just because when you get let down, that fall is It sucks.
But I still let myself have expectations.
I'd like to welcome you all to the Daytona 500.
It's certainly awesome to have you all here for our speed weeks.
Last year, we didn't get the opportunity to have these special presentations that are such an important part of the Daytona 500.
Driver of the number 11 FedEx Toyota, Mr.
Denny Hamlin.
You got a great chance of doing a three-peat and getting your fourth Daytona 500.
It's tough because it's harder than ever, you know? We're running tighter, in a tighter pack than we've ever run.
I just hope within five laps to go, I've just got a shot.
I just wanna be on the racetrack with a shot.
There you go.
Yes, sir.
Oh, oh.
Yeah, I mean, it's difficult, because I switch roles within just a minute or two.
You know, it's it's going to be a balance.
You know, uh, my focus is gonna be try to win three in a row for my 11 FedEx at Joe Gibbs Racing.
That's ultimately The biggest asset I can be to my team is to continue my on-track success with Joe Gibbs Racing.
And so, I gave Bubba a pat on the back, said, "It's all up to you now.
" The car's been prepared.
It's done.
Hit your points, your shift points.
Make sure you don't make any mistakes there, and give it, you know, all it has.
I hope to pass him in the final corner and they finish second.
That would be ultimately my favorite scenario.
I remember when Bubba told me about the possibility of them forming a new team.
He said he may be driving for Denny.
I said, "Denny?" "You and him don't see eye-to-eye.
Do you think that's a smart move?" 'Cause Mom's gonna ask the questions.
He's like, "Mom, we're fine.
It's business.
Business is business.
" I'm like, "Okay.
" I think that Denny is a good businessman.
So, I'm thinking, "Okay, Bub, you're in a good place.
" My question also was, "Okay.
Denny drives for Joe Gibbs Racing.
" "How does that affect you, Bub, if you're there on the track competing?" He was like, "Mom, we'll figure it all out.
" "Denny wants to win.
I wanna win.
" "So, nothing's changed.
" I'm like, "Okay.
Now, as long as they do you right, I'm okay with that.
" Me and Bubba had ups and downs just like any competitors would.
It's a lap away from the checkered flag in the Daytona 500.
Then there was the 2018 Daytona 500.
I got so many emotions going right now.
I wanna see the replay before I say anything stupid.
What are you seeing? Ah.
He says I cut his tire down.
Um, hey, we edged him out, we beat him, so it's all good.
You know, we had a little spat after the race.
Wait a minute, wait a minute.
- Denny.
- I'm I am.
I'm calm.
I'm fucking calm.
- Come on.
- There it is again.
I made some comments in the media.
He made fun of them.
I took it personally.
He took it personally.
I didn't like how the things went down.
But ultimately, I still respected Bubba, and I think that he still respected me.
And that was important, because just a few years later, I'm asking him to come to my bus to talk about driving for me.
He was pissed that I called him out on the interview.
And he called me.
Said I was cocky and that I cut his tire and just a bunch of bullshit.
And I was just like, "I finished second, you finished third.
Ha!" I gotta be careful 'cause he my boss.
Oh, shit.
So, this car here is my very first race car ever.
This is a Ford Probe, a four-cylinder, what they call a "mini-stock.
" They don't go super fast, but when I was 16, my parents got me this car.
Oddly enough, if you look at this car, it looks just like the car that I race today.
It's a purple and white number 11.
I race a purple and white number 11 now.
My passion for the sport started when I was five years old.
This very, very simple thing that happened to me.
I just went to a race.
At Richmond International Raceway, 71,000 fans waiting for this hour.
My parents always had season tickets at Richmond Raceway, and the moment the cars flew around the racetrack and I smelled the tires and the fuel and I heard the sound of the roaring engines, I was hooked.
My dad found a go-kart that was quote-unquote "race ready" for $200.
I remember he took me to a dirt track called A Million Motor Raceway, he sat me down in the go-kart and he says, "Okay.
" "This is how you go.
This is how you stop.
" "And this is how you turn the car.
Go.
" And he started watching me make laps around the race track.
And I'm sliding it all over the place and I just wanted to figure out then, well, how can I compete? How can I go to a racetrack and try to get a trophy? They put me in the car, and the rest is history.
Here they come to the line! This is the finish of the Daytona 500! Side by side! Bouncing off each other! Unbelievable! Hamlin by an inch.
Closest finish in history.
Wow, inches.
Denny Hamlin will do a few donuts.
Wins their first Daytona 500.
This car here is my very first Daytona 500 win.
As you see, I left it exactly like it was off the racetrack.
This is 2016, 2019, 2020.
When COVID hit, when the nation went on lockdown, uh, NASCAR was not racing for eight weeks.
You know, I'm big into golf, but I realized pretty quickly that I can't golf every day.
I knew that it was, I wanted to run a business.
I didn't know what that business was gonna be.
For me, team ownership is something that really piqued my interest when the opportunity came in front of me.
You know, this is my long-term plan to to stay in the sport.
And then a news article came out.
Kind of a, uh one that wasn't really real, and it says, "A current NASCAR driver, Denny Hamlin, and Michael Jordan looking to purchase a stake.
" And I think it was just a speculative article.
I'll never forget, I was on the ninth hole at my home golf course, and I'm like, "Should I send Michael this article?" "Let me get his temperature here.
" And I sent it to him, and he responded immediately, says, "Ha ha.
" You know, "Obviously, fake news.
" "Not real.
But if you want to make it real news, let me know.
" About 24 to 48 hours later, I flew down to Florida, uh, talked to him, uh, at the golf course, and said, you know, "Here's an option.
" "Toyota is is open to this.
" "JGR is open to this.
" Um, "What do you think?" And he says, "Well, let me get my business guys on it, and let me vet it, and, uh, and we'll get back to you.
" And in the end, he says, "I'm in.
" I don't think a lot of people know that Michael Jordan grew up riding dirt bikes.
Obviously, he went on to play professional basketball, and during that time, he was not really allowed to ride motorcycles.
After he retired for the last time, he took up the sport of motorcycling again.
He had started Michael Jordan Motorsports, it was an AMA Superbike race team that participated roughly from 2005 to 2013.
I ran the sponsorship division.
Here comes that big white Jordan Motorsports, number 23.
Michael and I stayed in touch over the years, and, one day, I hear an announcement that, uh, Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin started a NASCAR team.
When Michael and Denny started 23X1, there was this whole discussion about who's the driver that deserves to be in this seat.
To be the first one to drive for Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin's team is an honor, and they looked at the drivers that were available.
Bubba Wallace rose to the top of their list.
I think Denny respected Bubba from driving against him all these years.
He saw the fact that he has speed, that he's fast, that he knows how to do restarts, and all the things that you want in a young driver.
They wanted to provide Bubba the chance to have top-level equipment, top-level team around him, to allow his talents to finally shine at the cup level.
- What up? - What's up, man? Michael.
Good to see you.
Good to see you.
Look at this fella.
- What's up? - What's up? You good? I'm good.
Meet your driver.
What's up, little man? - How you doing? - Didn't know you were this small.
I'm thinkin' he's tall! It was the first time that Bubba actually had met Michael in person, which blew my mind.
You'd have thought putting this team together and making Bubba the driver, that they'd have had that face-to-face interaction.
But instantly, Michael has a way of putting people at ease.
Bubba's a very fun, chill, young, energetic guy, and Denny's like that guy who's been around NASCAR, understands the business of it.
To see these three guys together was like almost a perfect marriage of personality.
It's pretty real for me to be sitting right here with you three, right before the Daytona 500, right before the kickoff of the 2021 NASCAR season.
So, how was it for you guys? I'm excited, I'm nervous, even though I'm not getting in the car.
But I think the thing is, obviously, you and I, getting ready to play a big game, we'll be nervous, but we're in control.
End of the day, they're in control because they're signing checks, getting good cars.
The thing is, we don't sign checks to losers, so you gotta be careful.
It goes to show Michael's mindset.
Michael always wins.
At least, he's gonna put everything he can into winning.
I think that's the great thing about the team.
No one's hiding anything.
This is who we are, and, um, let's make this work.
He's gonna learn how to win.
He's got the talent.
We would not have invested in him and picked him if he didn't have the talent to win.
By the end of the year, I think he's gonna have an opportunity and probably will win at least a couple races.
If it's more, I'll be elated.
I'll be jumpin' off my couch when you get your first one.
Me too.
Everyone's a little bit on edge this morning, considering it's one of the biggest days of the year for us.
We're getting ready to roll through inspection.
So, it used to be that the cars had templates.
NASCAR would have metal strips that would go over the race car.
You probably saw on Days of Thunder.
They put this metal strip over the car, and it's gotta fit.
Now it's done by lasers, and essentially, they're shooting lasers all around the car, and they do a body scan.
Back in the day, anywhere there wasn't a template, we would either knock that fender in or push that fender out, whatever made that car go faster 'cause these cars race in the tight tolerances.
So, if you can gain ten thousandths of an inch, that's the difference in a car being a first-place car and a 10th-place car.
Went to the inspection, and, for some reason, we failed.
We didn't understand why.
We actually thought it was a fluke.
Dealing with technology, you're not ever sure what'll happen.
So, you can fail once.
Once is a warning.
"Hey, go fix it.
" Roll back around, try it again.
Made a small adjustment, and it still failed.
After we failed twice, we didn't make any adjustments.
We took the car, put it on jack stands, got all four tires off the ground.
Put it back on the ground, ran it through, passed.
The developing story where the 23X1 Race with Bubba Wallace the driver, it just passed the third time.
So, what that means is that they have to move to the rear of the field as part of the punishment for failing the first two times inspection.
What was the specific failure? Rear alignment.
- Rear alignment? - Yeah.
Bubba was slated to start sixth.
But, unfortunately, with the inspection issues, he had to go to the very back and start mid-30s.
You change strategy for the beginning of the race? No.
You just gotta race as hard as you can.
- Thanks for talking.
- Have a good one.
This is unprecedented.
It's been 27 years since we've had Dale Earnhardt, who has owned a cup team and driven for another.
There's a balance there that I've gotta have.
I've gotta stay true to my team, which is giving them a hundred percent of my effort and attention.
At races, I try to be cool, calm, and collective.
I was just excited to start the season off with a new team, new opportunities.
Be smart.
You know the deal.
Take care of that thing.
We got a bit of weather popping up.
Excited to be where I'm at, you guys with me, so let's be smart, have some fun.
Our season starts right here.
Welcome, MJ and everyone else.
It's been a pleasure building this team.
First race of many together.
Make it count.
Take care of it, be there at the end.
New chapter starts today, brother.
Let's go to work.
Yes, sir! And here they come.
Green flag! The 63rd Daytona 500 is underway.
NASCAR drivers probably don't get the respect of being the athletes they are.
I mean, being in that car for four hours at 140 degrees and the G-forces of a fighter jet, it's not an easy job.
What people see is us going in circles.
What they don't realize is the conditions of that track are changing every lap.
We're searching for cold pavement.
We're searching for a line that's different than someone else to make our car go faster.
What I'm doing every straightaway is figuring out how I'm gonna make this corner faster than the previous.
Still clear.
Outside now.
Six tight.
He's off you.
Two-by-two behind you.
Six is out there by himself.
Always a debate early in this race, do you want to take those risks and take it three-wide here in the opening laps of the Daytona 500? Five hundred! Five hundred miles.
You got a long way to go! There's such a mental chess match going on at 200 miles per hour in these races.
I think you gotta see situations, you gotta feel energy of the pack.
You have to position yourself mentally and strategically where you wanna be.
How are you gonna react? What's your escape plan at all times? That mental game inside those races is insane.
We started the race at the back, and it doesn't matter because you never know what can happen.
On your toes.
Middle of that pack makes me nervous.
I'm watching.
Just check up.
Watch the 47 in your mirror.
Outside.
Just keep checking up.
Spinning top, spinning top, spinning top! Unbelievable.
Crushing blow to so many teams, so many efforts.
That it Goes into having fast cars and being at this Daytona 500.
That was a lot of heavy hitters in this one.
Man, that took out a lot of race cars and a lot of great race cars.
Wow.
Unbelievable.
Denny Hamlin's decision to drop to the back with Bubba Wallace.
He took a bad situation, and that sent him to the back, but ended up being pretty lucky for him in this situation.
Bubba getting sent to the back for inspection issues was a blessing in disguise for us.
More than likely, he'd have been in that first wreck.
I feel that shifted the whole vibe.
I mean, half the field was destroyed, and so that ultimately changed the whole outcome of the race.
Those that didn't get caught up in that, it's a total reset.
Unfortunately, it came at a huge cost to 16 cars.
Please take the necessary precautions.
Now the words you've been waiting six and a half hours to hear.
Fans, thanks for sticking with us as we get ready to start restart Daytona 500.
Here we go.
NASCAR divided each race into three stages.
Stages in NASCAR are kind of like quarters in basketball, periods in hockey, except you get points at the end of the stage if you finish in the top ten, so it matters if you're running well early in a race.
And NASCAR designed this in order to reward teams who have good starts to races and maybe have something bad happen later in the race, and also to push drivers to lead laps early in the race, to push them to make passes for 10th, for 8th, for 6th, early in the race rather than just riding around.
All right.
One to go in Stage 1.
Hamlin won a league-leading 11 stages in 2020.
And here they come to the line - to complete Stage 1! - No sign of Bubba Wallace! Denny Hamlin, the winner of Stage 1.
Not over yet, man.
We got a long way to go.
Here they come, Stage 2.
So, in drafting-type races, your Daytonas, your Talladegas, the person who's up front is the one that manipulates the air the best.
Everyone is holding the gas all the way wide open.
No one's touching the brake.
You have to figure out how can you use cars around you to propel yourself forward? With these types of cars in this racing package, you mostly get your speed from the car behind you.
The closer he is to your rear bumper, the further it shoots your car out.
He doesn't even have to touch you.
It's just his nose getting close to your rear bumper pushes your car forward and keeps you out front.
Can't do it alone on these types of tracks.
You have to have cars behind you, and you have to have cars willing to work with you to go forward.
And I think that's the key I've found that has been good for me over the years is I've had guys help me at the right time.
It propelled me forward and made the right moves.
Denny Hamlin backed up and got a big push from the 23, Bubba Wallace Jr.
, drove right by Kevin Harvick.
Denny Hamlin trying to do what no driver has ever done and win his third Daytona 500 in a row.
He is your Toyota top performer with 75 to go.
Bubba Wallace in second.
I think Wallace will stay on the rear bumper, the 11 of Denny Hamlin.
They're driving like it's the last lap of the 500, not the stage.
One to go! Great move by Bubba Wallace.
Didn't think he'd do it! I thought he'd stick with Hamlin! I didn't realize until the race is over that he was the first African-American to ever lead the Daytona 500.
I mean, this is our biggest race.
It's got so much history.
It was great for him to have that accomplishment.
Oh! Bubba Wallace gets sideways.
That was close! Last lap of Stage 2, Denny on the outside, I'm on the inside.
My spotter was like, "Gonna be a drag race between you two, so duke it out.
" On the last lap, I'm battling him for the stage win and yelling in my car, "Pull up in front of me," because I'd be fine, pushing him, but he tried to block too many lanes at one time and caught himself in no man's land.
Here they come for the green and white checkers to end Stage 2.
Hamlin again.
I had no choice but to go for it for my team and get the win, but he should have just trusted that his teammate, me, was gonna push him to victory.
We could have gotten a stage win, which would have been huge.
So, it's just like Damn.
It was a high and low moment.
We ended up third in that stage.
I-I gave away a win, just just being too conservative.
All right, Bubba, Freddie, crew.
Game faces back on.
Got work to do right away.
Let's get to it.
Happy Monday on the East Coast.
Thanks for staying with us.
Stage 3, Denny Hamlin.
Here we go.
Denny Hamlin, the Stage 2 winner, has now won four straight mid-race stages in the Daytona 500.
We might see history tonight, guys.
Among the memorable three-peats, this would rank up there, should it happen for Denny Hamlin.
We've seen this happen all night long.
These guys are in line.
They're not in line because they can't pass.
They are in line to get ready for the end of this race.
"How do I position myself?" "What do I have to do to find a way to be at the front when this thing is over?" You have to figure out where you need to be on what lap to give yourself a chance.
As long as I'm within the top 15 with five to go, I feel like I can win.
Now if they're single file, I'm in trouble.
I've gotta have the cars disturbing air.
This is gonna be a huge run coming.
And Hamlin's alone.
He has no friends.
So he can't block more than one lane at a time.
Kyle Busch not close enough to help.
Here come the Fords led by Logano.
I've got a vibration.
Word from the pit says everything's tight.
This is gonna be trouble for Hamlin.
He got a big run, he tried to pull out, but he's all by himself.
Feels like a bad set of tires.
Vibration right now.
Ahh.
It's crucial to get all those lugs tight, and if you don't, you get a vibration.
If you keep running, the vibration gets worse, gets worse, and eventually the wheel will break off 'cause the wheel isn't tight to the hub.
He'll be coming to you.
Be ready.
We are in the dog spot.
You have to execute every time under pressure.
The faster the better, but you can't have loose wheels, you can't have pit stop errors.
It's a never-ending process to be better.
What's wrong with the tire? Looks like loose right front.
A loose wheel killed our chances there at winning.
Any time you pit by yourself off-sequence at Daytona, that's it.
So here's Hamlin behind Wallace, who's now a lap down, has little to lose.
Can Bubba drop down and help his co-owner of his team, Denny Hamlin, get back to the front? You can help him.
When they're lined up We're seeing Denny make all kinds of aggressive moves.
He'll make one spot up every once in a while.
Then he loses, goes back to the back.
He's trying really hard.
He can't do it by himself, so, yes, Bubba can help him.
I saw Bubba come back and then form up to our pack, and I'm thinking, "Okay.
At some point somebody's going to make a move.
" - There he goes.
- Big run.
Watch what happens behind these guys.
- That's gonna shake everything up.
- It's on.
The tough part is nobody really got organized to make a run at the lead, so when the move finally got made between the two leaders, and it started disturbing the air, that's when I started making my move towards the front.
- Runs on top Teammates! - Whoa! Around they go in a hard crash! I can't see anything.
You feel the heat from the fire.
Those were huge flames.
Everything was bright.
But if there was a camera looking back at me, I literally had a deadpan the whole time.
Just "Is this over with yet?" I I don't know why.
I was so annoyed that we were in the wreck, and it was like, "Dude, get us out.
" "We hit, I'm fine.
I'm all good.
Nothing hurt.
" And Michael McDowell has won the Daytona 500.
How about that! We had to settle for a fifth-place finish.
I was disappointed that we didn't get three in a row and make history, do something that nobody else has done, but there was nothing I could've done differently, in my opinion, uh, to change the outcome of that race.
We wrecked a race car for no reason.
I should have just bailed out sooner.
And so that was a tough thing.
It was like, "Man, we wrecked a really fast race car.
" You know, we can build one like it, but is it really like it? Yeah.
Bubba's racing IQ is above his experience level.
Is it at the top-notch where the experienced veterans are? No.
This is gonna be a learning curve.
He's not gonna just be a star overnight.
And it's not gonna happen in a year either.
It's gonna be a progression.
It's gonna take time.
You know, the sport ain't easy.
It's tough.
You got to be able to know how to lose.
- See you.
- See ya.
That could be finishing second, which is a good day, but you still lost.
You gotta be able to accept defeat, and take it well, and build off that to be successful.
But still I mean, you're gonna get your ass kicked.
A lot.
Darrell Wallace Jr.
, second year in a row.
Gonna win in Martinsville! Bubba grew up winning.
When you're not winning anymore, that's pressure in itself.
special Black Lives Matter paint scheme.
He knew this was going to make some people uncomfortable.
Your Dirt Track 2021! - Wrestlemania! - Whoo! How cool is this? They just need a solid, uneventful finish.
Oh! He spun! Bubba goes around! Oh, oh my God I've got to make it to the end It's far All my life, I've been counted out All my life has been hard, hard Hard, hard And oh my God I've got to make it to the end It's far The sun is burning And it's getting hot Feeling so alone, alone There's only one thing left to do I put the pedal to the floor I put the pedal to the floor I put the pedal to the floor I put the pedal to the They're coming for my head Leaving just to see my shame I think they want me dead, dead But no, I won't give up And no, I can't give in I'm in my God, you know I'm gonna win They're coming for my head Leaving just to see my shame I think they want me dead, dead But no, I won't give up To know I can't give in I'm in my And God you know I'm gonna win I'm gonna win, oh