Who Is Bubba Wallace’s Wife Amanda Carter?
After making history in Indianapolis, the 23XI Racing driver celebrated his momentous Cup Series win with a teary-eyed embrace from his wife, Amanda Carter, and their son, Becks.
For all stock car drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series, the need for speed comes pre-stitched into their DNA. Even when the gears aren't clicking, for a true wheelman, one who never lets off the gas, eventually they will. Case in point – Bubba Wallace.
Prior to his thrilling, double-overtime victory of the Brickyard 400, one that etched his name into the record books as the the first Black driver to win on the legendary oval in Indy, questions lurked around every corner for Wallace. Would he have enough points to make the playoffs? With Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin's continued standoff against the league through their team 23XI Racing, would the Toyota wheelman even have a charter to race for? And finally, would the Alabama native finally snap his 100-race winless streak? Fate of Wallace's season, as it seemed, hung in the balance. But after fending off Kyle Larson in Indianapolis to punch his ticket into the 16-driver post season field, what were once troubled waters up ahead now look a little less murky, a bit less rudderless and whole lot more steady.
While Wallace exuded pride from every pore, there was no one more proud of the the 31-year-old driver than his beloved wife of nearly three years, Amanda Carter. Overcome with emotion, Carter joined Wallace with their son Becks as they embarked on the Indy tradition of the winner kissing the bricks.
More than an ally along his Cup Series journey, Carter's been the calm in the storm, always believing in him when others wavered. And though Wallace beamed a smile in Indy born from the fruits of speed, he and Carter are an exemplary example as to why romance doesn’t always belong in the fast lane.
Their relationship started in high school and ultimately culminating in their wedding at the end of 2022. In a change for Wallace, it was slow and steady that won the race.
How did Bubba Wallace meet his wife Amanda?
Carter was a freshman while Wallace was a sophomore at Northwest Cabarrus High School in North Carolina. Though he was immediately smitten by Carter when the two met during a Spanish class, as Carter explained to PEOPLE, it was anything but love at first sight.
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“We sat near each other [in class],” recalled Amanda. “I don't remember first meeting, but he would always try to cheat. We were friends. There was three or four of us that did all of our projects together, and he always would try to cheat off my exams because I was much smarter than he was!"
"I was definitely not good at Spanish, and I was trying to do the easy route, and she would not budge,” joked Wallace. “She would not."
Whether it was that fateful Spanish class or just bad timing, in general, things just “never worked out” during their youth. According to Carter, she “even went to his prom with somebody else from his school.”
How did Bubba Wallace and his wife Amanda start dating?
Carter stayed in contact with Wallace after he finished high school in 2011, and the two began to nurture the early flames of their relationship after hanging out at a football game. Since Wallace was always traveling for racing events, the couple relied mostly on the phone to get to know one another and lessen the distance until Carter finally flew out to Las Vegas to watch one of Wallace’s races.
"It was my senior year spring break, and I didn't have plans at the time,” Carter told PEOPLE. “He was like, 'Well, I'll be out in Vegas while you're on spring break, do you want to come?' And I said, 'No.'"
"And then he asked a few times again, and I eventually said yes,” added Carter. “I was like, well, I have to get to know him more if we're going to be on vacation for a week together. And we started dating when we got out to Vegas because we had been talking so much. We had really started to really like each other."
When did Bubba Wallace and his wife Amanda get married?
After dating for five years, Wallace popped the question to Carter in July of 2021. The happy couple wed on New Year’s Eve 2022 during a ceremony close to their home in Charlotte, North Carolina near where they grew up. Celebrating the occasion in front of 250 friends and family, Carter wore a lacy, flared gown with a plunging back by Madam Barcu Couture, according to the Daily Mail.
"It's special," gushed Carter about their history together. "Even last night when we were at dinner, we were talking about stories from high school, or people from high school and town. We still reminisce or talk about things from the past. We just know so much about each other's lives from so long ago."
How do Bubba Wallace and Amanda deal with his NASCAR schedule?
Every moment that Wallace and Carter – a financial analyst at Bank of America in Charlotte – find the time to be together, they make the most of it, and sometimes that’s as easy as kicking it at home.
"We're fortunate to have two more days at home now [because] I'm flying out the day of the race and sometimes the night before, so that's different, but we manage it," he noted to PEOPLE in 2021.
Do Bubba Wallace and Amanda Carter have children?
Bubba Wallace and Amanda Carter welcomed their son Becks Hayden Wallace into the world September 29, 2024. After his wild, double-overtime victory of the Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis, where Wallace crossed the finish line a mere 0.222 seconds ahead of Larson to capture the crown-jewel event, Wallace embrace his wife and proudly hoisted Becks up to the roaring crowd.
Becks isn't the only one Wallace and Carter have to keep their eye on. The busy parents also have to contend with a cuddly, four-legged fur baby, Asher, the pair’s Aussiedoodle pup. Although Carter initially wasn’t too fond of the idea of getting a dog, she and Wallace have both grown incredibly close to the dog with Carter even referring to herself as “Asher’s mom” on social media.
"Getting married and starting a new life together – I’m just so excited to have a good one in my corner," Wallace said. "We have so much fun together."
