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Bubba Wallace said he expects online backlash over his COVID-19 vaccine-sponsored car for Sunday’s YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, and joked that the paint scheme is “just feeding right into” his critics on social media.
Kroger Health and Nuvaxovid, a COVID-19 vaccine, are sponsoring Bubba Wallace’s No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota this weekend.
https://x.com/joe_srigley/status/2112918317182689609
Wallace: ‘Everyone else can make up their own minds’
Wallace promoted the sponsor during his media availability at Talladega on Saturday.
“Yeah, it’s been fun to get to know them and the Kroger Health side of things,” Wallace said. “Get your flu shot.”
“People are gonna lose their minds over the COVID-19 stuff. But for us, it’s about building opportunities for people to be more educated on getting their flu shots and taking care of their health,” he said. “And moving forward with that. Everyone else can make up their own minds. But we’re all in it together to help everybody’s health.”
Asked whether the combination of Wallace, Talladega and a COVID sponsor would set off social media, Wallace laughed and said it was “just feeding right into them,” aimed at “the keyboard warriors.”
Moving on from Phoenix
Wallace arrives at Talladega after a frustrating finish at Phoenix Raceway last Sunday. He led 52 laps, his most in a race this season, before a pit-road speeding penalty on his final stop with 27 laps left dropped him to 17th, RACER reported. His teammate Tyler Reddick won the race.
“Yeah, I wish we could not be at a speedway to re-rack them, and not have to deal with the uncertainty of a speedway,” Wallace said. “But with that being said, we’ve been really fast at our speedway stuff.”
“As simple as it is, it’s frustrating to be that strong, and lead laps, and have a shot, and then just make one small error that cost us,” he said.
Wallace at Talladega
Wallace won the rain-shortened October 2021 race at Talladega for his first Cup Series win. He starts 25th on Sunday.
The YellaWood 500 starts at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.
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