NASCAR star Bubba Wallace makes plea to pregnant wife before mid-race question to crew chief

If Bubba Wallace seemed like he was driving to get the race over as fast as possible in Las Vegas on Sunday...he might well have been.

The 23XI Racing driver and his wife Amanda are expecting their second child any day now, and Wallace has pledged to be present for the birth – even if that means being replaced in his race car.

The Brickyard 400 winner was even checking in on his wife's status during Sunday's race, taking the Stage 2 caution to radio in to his team and ask: "How's my baby mama doin? No news is good news, right?”

Crew chief Charles Denike replied: "Clear clear clear.”

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Wallace: Hold out for two more days babe

Wallace had also sent a message to his wife during Cup Series qualifying on Prime on Saturday, saying: "Hold out for two more days, babe."

The 32-year-old had told The Athletic's Jeff Gluck earlier in the year that he would be present for the birth of his second child no matter what, after missing the birth of his son Becks in 2024.

“We’ve made the decision," he said. "I unfortunately missed the birth of my first kid; I’m not missing the second one.

“It was actually Amanda’s call on the first one. She was like, ‘Winning is so important. I don’t see a scenario where you’re not missing him, unless he came on like a Wednesday,’ but Becks is an asshole and came on Sunday at two o’clock. But that was her call.

“This go around, I said, ‘I’m not missing another one.’ People that don’t know that I missed ask, ‘Well, how did you do in the emergency room?’ I’m like, ‘I wasn’t there,’ and then you see their look on their faces, they’re like, ‘Oh,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I was racing,’ and I don’t want to do that.

“It’s fine. I lost the race that day. It’s okay. I can get another race next week. I don’t get another kid. I will be missing a race if it comes down to that, and that’s it, final.”