Bubba Wallace. James Gilbert/Getty Images
NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace is no stranger to heart-pounding action on the racetrack — but that was no match for the experience of welcoming his newborn son into the world.
When Wallace, 31, and wife Amanda Carter found out they were pregnant with their first baby in January, the excited couple only had one request: their son could not be born on a Sunday.
Due to the NASCAR schedule, a Sunday birth would likely mean that Wallace — who spoke to Us Weekly via his partnership with McDonald’s — wouldn’t be around to see it.
“Saturday night, she goes into labor,” Wallace told Us with a laugh. “Lovely. All in the cards for us. I flew home and stayed as long as I could. It was a very slow process. We thought he would hang out until his Dad got back home.”
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With his wife still in labor near Charlotte, Wallace flew back to the Kansas Speedway where he was set to compete in the Hollywood Casino 400 on September 29.
“Her mom was there to keep giving me updates,” Wallace said. “I just remember the text like, ‘OK, you can see his head.’ And then it goes to a FaceTime. I was like, ‘Oh OK, I’m gonna talk to my wife.’ No, it was just a picture of my son. I lost it.”
Wallace said the entire thing happened “in a matter of 20 minutes.”
“I thought he was going to be here in the next hour or two, not 20 minutes!” Wallace remembered. “Bam, there he was. I had everybody in my motorhome crying with me. It was wild. It was such a cool, cool moment.”
Shortly after, Wallace flew back to the hospital where he got to see his wife and meet his son, Becks, for the first time.
“I hate I wasn’t there, but it has definitely made me realize that, man, it’s not all about racing now,” Wallace said of fatherhood. “I don’t mean that like, ‘Oh, finally I don’t have to be as committed.’ No, that means the exact opposite. Once the race is over, that’s it.”
Becks is already getting used to having a race car driver for a father, as the two-week-old made his first appearance at the track for the Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday, October 13.
“Riding home, I was just sitting there thinking about, ‘Whoa, this is totally different,” Wallace said. “I finished 9th. I had a really good day, but I didn’t care. All I cared about was my crying kid in the backseat, you know? I think that’s special. And I’m excited to see how that will continue to evolve.”
For the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, October 20, Wallace is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) with a custom car paint scheme and suit design, featuring hand-drawn hearts made by children affiliated with RMHC.
As it turns out, the whole thing was Wallace’s idea.
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“We did a Ronald McDonald house visit in Dallas last year and we were coloring pictures of race cars with some families and kids,” Wallace explained. “I’m sitting there like, ‘Why am I not running this design from this kid on my car this weekend?’ So we made some phone calls and everybody was onboard.”
Charity work and partnering with McDonald’s to support Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) — a nonprofit that helps families with essential services when they have a child receiving medical treatment — has long been a passion of Wallace’s, which is something he has no plans on stopping with Becks now in the picture.
“We’re helping out families that are in need,” Wallace said. “We’re making them feel special. We’re taking away that pressure and pain for a little bit at a time. For us to be playing a small part in that, it should make you feel good.”
McDonald’s is kicking off a yearlong celebration of its 50-year partnership with RMHC by encouraging customers to give a ‘Gift to RMHC’ – simply round up on your next McDonald’s purchase to the nearest whole dollar.
