Bubba Wallace's renewed happy-go-lucky nature pushes Kevin Harvick to highlight NASCAR's "devastating" side

Bubba Wallace ended his winless streak at Brickyard 400 earlier this season. It turned out to be his first win since Kansas in September 2022. Recently, his win and the impact it has had on Wallace was a subject of discussion on the Happy Hour podcast.

Mamba Smith, the co-host of the show claimed that there's 'some swagger' with the #23 team. As for Wallace, he said that the real self of the driver who is 'happy and go-lucky' is back.

Adding to Smith's comments, Kevin Harvick shared his take on the mental side of NASCAR, explaining the pressure a driver, in this case, Bubba Wallace, has to endure on a weekly basis.

"The mental side of this sport can be devastating and I think the pressure that was on Bubba Wallace, he started the year fresh, got a new crew chief, had a lot of good performances, had couple weeks where things didn't go right and then all of a sudden, the media you have to go into the media center every week you have to answer the questions, you have to answer to the sponsors, you have to sit in the competition meetings. It's draining and it is really hard to deal with from a mental side. And I think that relief of that win from a mental side for him, this is a couple years that we're talking about two, three years of being in that mental state, makes it difficult to go out and be happy," Harvick said. [27:00]

He claimed every driver goes through this grind because there are weeks when they face a slump. Harvick mentioned how drivers are asked 'hard questions', social media criticisms, which in Wallace's case, is a lot as per the former driver.

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Kevin Harvick claims Bubba Wallace has been better than Tyler Reddick in 2025 from a speed perspective

While Bubba Wallace winning at Indy secured his playoff berth, his 23XI Racing teammate Tyler Reddick still remains winless. Heading into the final race of the regular season, last year's regular season champion is in 15th spot on the playoffs standings.

It's worth mentioning that Wallace has had 10 finishes inside the top 10 and four inside the top 5 this season.

Speaking about which of the two 23XI Racing drivers have had a better 2025, Kevin Harvick claimed that Bubba Wallace has been superior 'from a speed standpoint.'

"I think that Reddick figures out how to finish races and do the things that he needs to do and and his experience is starting to show in the series, but I still don't see Tyler Reddick as what he was last year from a race-winning capability," Harvick claimed via the aforementioned source. [28:30]

Harvick added that he hasn't seen race-winning capability from Tyler Reddick all year so far in the 2025 season.