LONG POND — Bubba Wallace fought back tears as he thanked the billionaire who decided to back him.

For a driver who long masked the pain in his personal and professional life, Wallace cut loose with genuine happiness.

Wallace has been candid about his bouts with depression, the tears and turmoil stirred from lean results on the track and strife in his personal life. Wallace wasn’t sure how his family and fans would react when he recently unburdened himself to the public, his face buried in his hands and a catch in his throat as he noted with raw emotion his best, “ain’t damn good enough.”

What the 25-year-old NASCAR driver learned was, he wasn’t alone in his fight. And his confession at Kansas Speedway touched more people than any checkered flag.

“I didn’t know that was so effective on so many people,” he said. “That was just me speaking out about it. Yeah, I’m going through this. That’s part of it. From family to fans to crew members, just reaching out and saying, `thanks for talking about it.’ I didn’t know how big of an impact it would have.”

Wallace, the only black driver at NASCAR’s top level, arrived in the sport hyped as a trailblazer of sorts. What he found was a series of fits and starts — notably landing serious sponsorship — and a Cup career stocked with unfilled potential.

He finished second in the Daytona 500 last season in the famed No. 43 of Richard Petty Motorsports, a career highlight.