Bubba Wallace overcame questions and doubts to end 3-year drought with 1st Brickyard 400 win

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Bubba Wallace spent three long years questioning everything about his racing world.

During a 100-race winless streak, he saw teammate Tyler Reddick win five times and post three top 10 finishes in NASCAR's final standings. Wallace also watched team co-owner Denny Hamlin make regular trips to victory lane while still chasing his elusive Cup title.

The drought forced Wallace to contemplate what was wrong and whether he'd continue to be employed in racing — until he realized there was more to life than racing. Sunday's life-changing Brickyard 400 title only reinforced that notion.

“When Amanda and I first started dating, I was like ‘Hey, racing everything, right?’ I knew I made a mistake saying that,” Wallace said, referring to his wife Sunday night. “It took me all these years to realize this isn’t always going to be here. So I think it’s better to enjoy moments like this, but nothing can overcome the joyful times you have with your family.”

Those aren't just empty words, either.

After celebrating with his crew, a jubilant Wallace hugged his wife and hoisted their 10-month-old son over his head, an image that may far outlive Wallace's reign as champion.

His second family, other Cup drivers, also embraced Wallace following the biggest victory of his career. By becoming the first Black driver to win a major race on Indianapolis Motor Speedway's historic 2.5-mile oval, Wallace also locked up his second playoff appearance.

But long before Sunday, there were indications Wallace was turning things around.

After posting just six top five finishes and 12 top 10s in his first five Cup seasons, Wallace broke through with five top fives and 10 top 10s in 2022 and 2023. Last year, he had career bests of six top fives and 14 top 10s. And he won one pole in each of those three seasons, too. He also won two qualifying races leading up to this year's Daytona 500, though those wins don't count in the Cup's official stats.

Midway through last season, though, Hamlin noticed a change in Wallace.

“When I hired Bubba, I believed in his capability, not necessarily the results he had shown, but I understood his potential. And then there was a time where we were kind of wrestling with ‘Do I want it worse than him? I can't make him want it,'" Hamlin said. “It just seems like something happened mid last year — maybe related to having a child or whatever — but something happened where I saw a change in attitude that changed work for him.”

It was a new perspective on life.

Suddenly, Wallace had more to think about than just racing and it freed him up to alleviate some of the pressure he put on himself and the brutal self critiques.

“I'm a guy with a beautiful wife, a beautiful son and putting family first, that’s all that matters and just fortunate enough to be driving race cars,” he said. “That makes things easier, gives you something to kind of focus on, the racing stuff is kind of secondary now and you have to have a mental shift to say that.”

But the philosophical change was only part of the equation.

Crew chief Charles Denike, whose nine years in the U.S. Army showed him how to cope with pressure, added a calming influence on the radio. Wallace also started reading “The Daily Stoic," a resource with exercises to help people cultivate wisdom and resilience.

Fatherhood changed things, too.

“I've got the family here,” he said. “Beck's win, officially his first race, and see his dad do it — get to victory lane — that brings me a lot of joy. Amanda's here, we lost our grandmother Friday night, so it's just kind of been a special weekend for us. Our family's here in Indiana, so this is really cool to be able to do.”

Of course, Wallace still gets frustrated as he did Saturday when he missed capturing the Brickyard pole by a whisker in qualifying. But he managed to strike a balance between the disgust that used to seep in and the positivity of what he nearly accomplished.

And it made a difference on the track Sunday and potentially off of it in the near future.

“There’s a certain level of expectation to win and so, not doing that for almost three years, you really start to doubt yourself and wonder ‘Is this it after the contract’s up? Is this it?’” he said. “I’ve still got a couple of years left, so hopefully this gives another year at least.”

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Bubba Wallace celebrates after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Sunday, July 27, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Bubba Wallace kisses the trophy after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Sunday, July 27, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Bubba Wallace kisses the "Yard of Bricks" after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Sunday, July 27, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Bubba Wallace reacts after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Sunday, July 27, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. flu infections showed signs of a slight decline last week, but health officials say it is not clear that this severe flu season has peaked.

New government data posted Friday — for flu activity through last week — showed declines in medical office visits due to flu-like illness and in the number of states reporting high flu activity.

However, some measures show this season is already surpassing the flu epidemic of last winter, one of the harshest in recent history. And experts believe there is more suffering ahead.

“This is going to be a long, hard flu season,” New York State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said, in a statement Friday.

One type of flu virus, called A H3N2, historically has caused the most hospitalizations and deaths in older people. So far this season, that is the type most frequently reported. Even more concerning, more than 91% of the H3N2 infections analyzed were a new version — known as the subclade K variant — that differs from the strain in this year’s flu shots.

The last flu season saw the highest overall flu hospitalization rate since the H1N1 flu pandemic 15 years ago. And child flu deaths reached 289, the worst recorded for any U.S. flu season this century — including that H1N1 “swine flu” pandemic of 2009-2010.

So far this season, there have been at least 15 million flu illnesses and 180,000 hospitalizations, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates. It also estimates there have been 7,400 deaths, including the deaths of at least 17 children.

Last week, 44 states reported high flu activity, down slightly from the week before. However, flu deaths and hospitalizations rose.

Determining exactly how flu season is going can be particularly tricky around the holidays. Schools are closed, and many people are traveling. Some people may be less likely to see a doctor, deciding to just suffer at home. Others may be more likely to go.

Also, some seasons see a surge in cases, then a decline, and then a second surge.

For years, federal health officials joined doctors' groups in recommending that everyone 6 months and older get an annual influenza vaccine. The shots may not prevent all symptoms but can prevent many infections from becoming severe, experts say.

But federal health officials on Monday announced they will no longer recommend flu vaccinations for U.S. children, saying it is a decision parents and patients should make in consultation with their doctors.

“I can’t begin to express how concerned we are about the future health of the children in this country, who already have been unnecessarily dying from the flu — a vaccine preventable disease,” said Michele Slafkosky, executive director of an advocacy organization called Families Fighting Flu.

“Now, with added confusion for parents and health care providers about childhood vaccines, I fear that flu seasons to come could be even more deadly for our youngest and most vulnerable," she said in a statement.

Flu is just one of a group of viruses that tend to strike more often in the winter. Hospitalizations from COVID-19 and RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, also have been rising in recent weeks — though were not diagnosed nearly as often as flu infections, according to other federal data.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

FILE - Pharmacy manager Aylen Amestoy administers a patient with a seasonal flu vaccine at a CVS Pharmacy in Miami, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)