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Bubba Wallace will use a WrestleMania paint scheme for his next NASCAR race
Bubba Wallace will race in a tricked-out, WWE-themed racecar on April 12 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Wallace, a member of Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing, will compete with a WrestleMania 42 paint scheme. The largely black paint job includes WWE’s WrestleMania logo for its two-night event in Las Vegas.
Of all the awe-inspiring designs on display at Bristol this weekend, Wallace’s WrestleMania is among the most flashy designs.
Wallace is in his ninth full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series. Wallace became the second Black driver to win in the Cup Series with his victory in 2021 at Talladega Superspeedway — the first of his career and first for 23XI Racing.
His first crown-jewel victory occurred in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July 2025, which was his third and most recent victory.
WWE Has a Long History With NASCAR
Bubba Wallace’s custom WrestleMania paint scheme continues a lengthy history between WWE and NASCAR.
During the heralded “Monday Night Wars” in the 1990s, WCW and WWE would regularly sponsor cars. In 1997, Kyle Petty drove a car emblazoned with the nWo logo in the Busch Grand National Series. The NASCAR driver said Hulk Hogan contacted him directly to ask him to be a nWo ally on the track.
Hogan and Stone Cold Steve Austin have been Grand Marshals for several NASCAR races.
NASCAR drivers also made frequent appearances at WCW live shows. Notably, a WCW-sponsored car won two races in what is now the Xfinity Series – one with Steve Grissom and the other with Greg Sacks.
WWE (formerly known as WWF) also sold NASCAR-inspired clothing back then, like WWF racing jacket Bad Bunny wore on SmackDown. The retro WWF logo appeared on the livestream but was digitized on playback due to restrictions from the World Wildlife Fund’s lawsuit in 1998.
Bad Bunny wore a jacket featuring the WWF logo, something that hasn’t been seen since 2002 when WWF transitioned into the WWE 😳.
Wallace will be the first NASCAR driver with the WrestleMania logo in his paint scheme.
WrestleMania Returns to Allegiant Stadium
As NASCAR gears up for an exciting weekend at Bristol Speedway, WWE prepares for its biggest annual show — WrestleMania.
WrestleMania 42 will be held at Allegiant Stadium for the second straight year. The loaded pay-per-view event features eight championship matches, including a six-man ladder match. Celebrities are expected to abound at WrestleMania in Las Vegas.
In the ring, WWE stars Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, and Cody Rhodes, among others, are scheduled to compete.
Tickets for WrestleMania are still available, which has been heavily discussed lately on Netflix’s RAW. Reigning WWE heavyweight champion CM Punk called out TKO for pricing out willing attendees and demanded a price drop for the event.
According to a report from Brandon Thurston at Post Wrestling and Wrestlenomics, WrestleMania 41 from inside Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas in 2025 pulled in $66,074,558 in ticket revenue. That makes the event the most lucrative pro wrestling event in history.
WWE is hoping for a similar output in a couple of weeks. The promotion is projected to have a $35 million production budget and was given $4.3 million in tax credits by the state of Nevada.
Night 1 of WrestleMania 42 begins April 18, six days after Bubba Wallace speeds through Bristol Speedway repping the event.
Jalyn Smoot Jalyn Smoot is a sports journalist covering the NBA for Heavy.com. He has nearly 10 years of experience in local and national media, including print and digital. He previously covered the Texas Rangers for MLB.com and the Philadelphia 76ers for Metro Philadelphia. Smoot is a St. Louis born writer that now resides in Dallas. More about Jalyn Smoot
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