Bubba Wallace reveals surprising reaction to NASCAR announcing Chicago Street race, Mexico city addition

When it comes to road courses, Bubba Wallace has had to work on his craft a lot in the last few years as those races become more important. With so much talent on these tracks in NASCAR lately, you have to embrace it or fall behind.

To his credit, Bubba Wallace has improved going right and left. He performs well on the Roval and had a top-10 run at Chicago going until he was spun late. There have been other solid runs at Sonoma and Watkins Glen for Wallace in recent years as well.

So, what does the 23XI Racing driver think about Mexico City this year? Well, he had a surprising reaction.

“I will say when they announced Mexico it was like, ‘Okay, cool.’ When we announced Chicago, I was like ‘Oh shit.’ And came into this deal like, I hope it fails,” Wallace explained on Rubbin’ is Racing. “One of the best races, I enjoy coming here. Win, lose, or draw, which I’ve only lost and drew, or just lost. It’s a good time, it’s a really good time. And I think I’ve told NASCAR like, ‘Hey, good job. This is cool.’ So, hopefully, Mexico is the same way.”

Chase Elliott was also on the podcast. He chimed in with his point of view along with Bubba Wallace. Elliott would like to see NASCAR continue to push international boundaries.

“I mean I think the Mexico City thing for me is exciting. … No, I really do think the Mexico City thing has potential, but I don’t, I guess I’m not as excited for the Mexico City race itself as I am for what that could potentially open up for us to leave the country and potentially grow that way,” Elliott explained. “I think the race has potential to be great, but I’m just excited that there’s enough willingness to leave the states.”

Bubba Wallace is going into the season with a positive mind. It is surprising to see Chase Elliott’s enthusiasm for a race overseas. When it comes to growing NASCAR globally, that will be the key. Can NASCAR take its product to the masses in Europe or Asia?

NASCAR will always be uniquely American. That does not mean the rest of the world can’t embrace it. Bubba Wallace and Chase Elliott have the right attitude about these new races. Growing the sport is a top priority that everyone benefits from.