How clever strategy and good fortune vaulted Bubba…

Although he started on the outside of the front row, few were looking at Bubba Wallace as a driver who could win the Brickyard 400 as the field approached the final set of green-flag pit stops. But with multiple strategies simultaneously unfolding, the hand 23XI Racing played ended up being the winning move ... but how?

The moment that set up Wallace perfectly for a run at the victory actually came in his second-to-last pit stop before the end of Stage 2.

Kyle Larson came down pit road almost ten laps sooner than Wallace, so despite his superior track position, his final stop was going to be longer in order to get the car full of fuel.

Pitting just as the window closed

Erik Jones, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Toyota (Photo by: Jonathan Bachman - Getty Images)

Larson made his penultimate stop on Lap 80 of 160, while Wallace pitted on Lap 89. This was the most critical moment of the race for the No. 23, as the caution flew for Erik Jones just one lap later. The timing could not have been better, and had Wallace waited just one more lap to pit, he would have been stuck deep in the field, and we wouldn't be having this conversation.

During that stop, he took four tires and fully loaded the No. 23 as he was told to wait on fuel. As the race moved into the final stage, he found himself running as high as fourth before his final stop, running over four seconds behind Larson.

Wallace made the 'money stop' with 40 to go, taking just right-side tires and only spending about seven seconds in his box. He rejoined the race behind Joey Logano, who was leading among those who had made their final stop.

Two laps later, Larson came down, but his stop was a bit longer due to running longer on that tank. Wallace crossed paths with him at the exit of Turn 2, just as Larson was about to leave the access road and rejoin the race track.

Taking advantage of Logano's tire issue

Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota (Photo by: Jonathan Bachman - Getty Images)

At this point, Wallace had his teammate [Tyler Reddick] right behind him, but he was still only going to cycle through as the second-place driver with Logano in control.

But with 27 laps to go, Logano's right rear tire cut down. Wallace initially veered to the left to get out from behind the ailing Penske car, but quickly had to shoot back to the right as Logano's car limped to the bottom of the track.

Lognao's Penske teammate Austin Cindric suffered the same fate while leading the race earlier in the event. At this point, the realization hit that Wallace could actually win this race.

Saving fuel and double overtime

Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (Photo by: Jonathan Bachman - Getty Images)

By the time Larson got around a struggling Reddick for second, Wallace was six seconds up the road. This was another critical moment as it gave him some breathing room, allowing Wallace to save some more fuel and manage the gap. Larson sliced the margin to under four seconds with less than 10 laps to go, but he was not going to have a chance to pass Wallace ... unless there was a caution.

Some raindrops with six laps to go forced NASCAR to display the yellow flag, ultimately bringing the field down pit road and red-flagging the event. Once things got back rolling, Wallace had to face Larson directly in two overtime restarts.

However, holding the bottom lane was extremely helpful here, even with Larson's teammate William Byron directly behind him. Wallace maintained control of the race, clearing Larson before the exit of Turn 2 in the first and second restarts. Larson also gave him room, choosing not to pinch him down as it was likely to end in a wreck for both drivers.

No one else was close enough to help Larson build a run as Josh Berry and Byron ran out of fuel behind them. Wallace crossed the finish line, just 0.222s clear of a charging Larson. A 100-race winless streak was over, his playoff worries vanished, and Wallace had just made himself a Brickyard 400 champion.