DAYTONA (August 25, 2025) -- Not all of today’s top racing drivers started their athletic journeys behind the wheel. Before they ever felt the rush of an engine at full throttle, some grew up playing AAU Basketball and AAU Baseball like many current AAU athletes. NASCAR drivers Bubba Wallace and Austin Dillon have both won crown jewel events at the highest level of stock car racing, and both participated in AAU as kids. Youth sports like basketball and baseball may seem drastically different from the world of motorsports, but the skills and intangibles they foster are often found in both and help create the whole athlete.

Athletes who grow up playing sports like basketball or baseball develop essential hand-eye coordination and reaction speed, both are qualities critical in racing. Players must make split-second decisions while tracking multiple moving players in basketball, much like a driver navigating through traffic on the track. Similarly, baseball helps athletes refine their ability to read a situation, whether it’s reading a pitch or reacting to an ill-handling racecar. These experiences help athletes regardless of sport develop the fine motor control and quick reflexes needed to handle unpredictability in any sport.

For Wallace and Dillon, playing basketball and baseball growing up led to opportunities to develop sustained concentration, mental discipline, and resilience in the face of failure. A missed free throw or a strikeout can mirror the frustration of a lost lap or a flat tire. The ability to reset and regain composure is a hallmark of great athletes in every sport. Young athletes learn to channel nerves, maintain composure, and trust preparation, all of which translate to the pressures of any competitive sport.

(Photo credit: Caleb Friend, AAU Sports)

Racing may appear individualistic, but success depends on teamwork just as much as it does in traditional team sports. Strategy discussions between drivers, crew chiefs and car mechanics resemble drawing up an inbound play on the basketball court or analyzing an opposing pitcher’s tendencies in baseball. Athletes who grow up in team environments understand collaboration, communication, and leadership.

Wallace and Dillon didn’t have their best results at Daytona this weekend, but it is only a small bump in the road of what have been great seasons for both to this point. Both drivers have won a race in 2025 (Wallace at Indianapolis in July, Dillon only a few weeks ago in Richmond) and being eligible for the NASCAR playoffs and contending for the championship. Photos from the event can be found below.

Playing AAU can take you in any direction imaginable, including the high banks of Daytona. The link between youth sports and premier athletes in any sport lies not in the mechanics of the games but in the mindset and discipline they create. From teamwork to tenacity, the lessons learned on the field or court ultimately power success in all facets of life. No matter where the path goes, it starts by becoming a complete athlete with AAU.

(Photo credit: Caleb Friend, AAU Sports)