NASCAR drivers do dangerous stuff. They wheel heavy stock cars with V8 engines, speed them up to 200 MPH, and do beating-and-banging in close-quarter racetracks. So, as far as the high-octane danger of crashing at dizzying speeds is concerned, drivers are fearless. But that does not mean they never feel spine-chilling fears – and they can involve creepy-crawlies for Bubba Wallace.
The 23XI Racing driver has been on a fiery streak this season. Across seven races in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, he has acquired a 17.29 average finish – just two spots away from his overall finish in 2024. While Bubba Wallace is fearlessly soaring through his career, he cannot help but ponder about the things that keep him up at night.
Things that creep out Bubba Wallace
For the outspoken and upright NASCAR Cup driver, anything might seem fearless, right? Ever since Bubba Wallace joined the stock car racing series, he has bravely upheld his African-American identity. Ranging from fighting against the use of Confederate flags to speaking out about his mental health, Wallace’s fearless demeanor knows no bounds. Wallace had struggled with his race performance, currently facing an 86-race winless streak. But even that fear seems to be melting away – he fetched two back-to-back podium finishes at Homestead-Miami and Martinsville.
So what makes Bubba Wallace afraid? The two-time Cup Series race winner revealed the answer to that question that so many fans want to know. In a recent interview with CBS News, Wallace initially talked about how anything rarely scares him. “For thrill-seekers…I can’t say athletes because that puts us all in a broad perspective. But for a person that really has no fear of doing stuff outside of the ordinary…Like going to space, I would definitely do. If somebody told me to jump in and swim with a great white shark, I would go do it.”
Racecar driver @BubbaWallace says becoming a father has given him a new perspective on life: “I walk a little bit lighter.”
He tells CBS Mornings about finding joy in the long @NASCAR season and how he and his wife are navigating being first-time parents. pic.twitter.com/t3yI8yR40u
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) April 1, 2025
But the things that do scare Bubba Wallace might leave anybody a nervous, sweating wreck. Wallace spilled the beans: “What scares me is the dark…and spiders.” So, after the sun sets or after he visits the countryside, either the darkness or the eight-legged creatures can crawl up on Wallace. The interviewer asked him if he kept the lights on at night. Wallace replied: “No…Now, with our son at home, we sleep with the door open…that has our light on down in the hallway. You get a little bit…but to me, there’s always something there.”
Other drivers also share Bubba Wallace’s fears of creepy-crawlies or natural factors. For instance, Shane van Gisbergen – three-time champion of Supercars, an Australian series – fears snakes and spiders. For Chase Briscoe, it is a fear of birds – remember Alfred Hitchcock’s movie? “Birds freak me out for whatever reason. I think one got in the race shop when I was younger and came flying at me,” Briscoe confessed in 2022. Then, Christopher Bell is scared of fire – something that lurks in the dark thoughts of every race car driver.
Bubba Wallace’s phobias may have been more than these two. However, ever since his bundle of joy came into his life, things have been simpler.
Wallace’s spirits have perked up
Dial back two years, and you will encounter an entirely different No. 23 driver. Back in 2023, Bubba Wallace fought disappointment and worry after every bad race finish. When his best friend Ryan Blaney clinched the Cup Series championship and Wallace’s playoff entry was futile, he spiraled into a depressive episode. Wallace was not devoid of controversies either.
From wrecking with Kyle Larson in a 2022 Las Vegas race to door-slamming Alex Bowman in Chicago last year, Wallace has scraped with trouble several times. However, soon after Bubba and Amanda Wallace gave birth to Becks Hayden last September, things changed.
It was visible during the Homestead-Miami race. When Bubba Wallace dropped down to third after leading for 56 laps, he did not get angry. Moreover, he cracked a joke with his team about having a loose tire. Wallace attributes this mental improvement to his son’s bright presence: “Nothing else matters anymore, besides being a great father, being a great husband, being a great family man,” Wallace said. “Prior to that, it was always racing first, and I’ve missed out on a lot of good memories and opportunities by putting that first and causing a lot of stress from within or the people surrounding me … It took having a kid to realize there’s so much more to life.”
Evidently, Bubba Wallace’s phobias are limited due to his adorable family. As the Cup Series season continues, let us see what further magic he can conjure on the racetrack.
The post “We Sleep With Door Open”- Bubba Wallace Publicly Confesses His Life’s Biggest Yet Embarrassing Fears Despite ‘Out of Ordinary’ Career appeared first on EssentiallySports.
