Tag: Bubba Wallace

Bubba Wallace drove off track before finish at 2024 Busch Light Clash

Bubba Wallace drove off the track and didn’t finish after spinning out on the final lap of the Busch Light Clash. Watch Wallace drive off!

[autotag]Bubba Wallace[/autotag] showed solid speed in his 2024 NASCAR debut at the Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum. Wallace ran in the top 10 spots and entered the final lap in a competitive battle with Kyle Larson for fifth place. However, the 23XI Racing driver didn’t finish in the top 5 spots after Larson spun him out in the final corner.

Wallace ended up finishing in 12th place, but based on a video from the race track on the final lap, there is more to the story. According to the video, Wallace never finished the race after spinning out because he pulled into the tunnel instead. Despite the competitors passing him, the driver of the No. 23 car still managed to finish in 12th place because the others were one lap down.

It is an unofficial race and doesn’t count toward the point standings, so nothing is truthfully affected by not finishing. Instead, Wallace joked on social media after the race and seemed confused about how he finished in 12th place despite not crossing the line. It was a humorous ending to a chaotic day of racing, and Wallace hopes to actually cross the line at the Daytona 500 in under two weeks.

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NASCAR’s Wallace, Nemechek set for Pilot Challenge Supra

NASCAR Cup Series drivers Bubba Wallace and John Hunter Nemechek will make their IMSA debuts later this month in the Michelin Pilot Challenge series at Daytona International Speedway. The Toyota NASCAR representatives will share a Smooge Racing …

NASCAR Cup Series drivers Bubba Wallace and John Hunter Nemechek will make their IMSA debuts later this month in the Michelin Pilot Challenge series at Daytona International Speedway.

The Toyota NASCAR representatives will share a Smooge Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO in the four-hour contest set for Friday, January 26, the day prior to IMSA’s Rolex 24 At Daytona. The duo will share the No. 23 Supra with NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Corey Heim.

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“We are very excited to run two GR Supra GT4 EVOs at Daytona this year,” said team principal Kevin Conway, who drives the sister No. 68 GR Supra with John Geesbreght and Corey Lewis.

“Having Bubba, John Hunter and Corey in the 23 car is a major honor and testament to Smooge Racing, I’m also looking forward to racing with John Geesbreght and Corey Lewis in the PRAX Leadership GR Supra. John and I have had a lot of success together and we are looking forward to building on that at Daytona.”

Air Force to sponsor Bubba Wallace during 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season

23XI Racing announced on Tuesday morning that Bubba Wallace will be sponsored by the U.S. Air Force for multiple races in 2024.

[autotag]Bubba Wallace[/autotag] and the United States Air Force have reunited in the NASCAR Cup Series. On Tuesday morning, 23XI Racing announced that the Air Force will become a primary sponsor for Wallace and the No. 23 team starting in 2024. The sponsor will be on the No. 23 car for multiple races during the season.

Wallace was sponsored by the Air Force for eight Cup Series races from 2018-20, when he spent time at Richard Petty Motorsports, now known as Legacy Motor Club. The organization has also indicated that the paint scheme and firesuit designs will be released at a later date. It will also hold at-track events for Airmen across the country in 2024.

This is a massive development for 23XI Racing, as the Air Force has been in NASCAR for a long time. Wallace has improved over the years, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see him eventually bring the sponsor to victory lane. Now, the wait is underway for Wallace’s car design, as the Air Force’s paint schemes have been great in the past.

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Bubba Wallace’s 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season in review

Bubba Wallace had a pretty solid year with 23XI Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. Here, you can check out Wallace’s 2023 season in review!

[autotag]Bubba Wallace[/autotag] failed to win for the first time since 2020 but the 2023 NASCAR season may have been his best yet. Wallace finished the year with five top-5 finishes and 10 top-10 finishes, which match his career highs. Unfortunately for the driver of the No. 23 car, he was eliminated in the Round of 12 and wasn’t able to advance further in his playoff debut.

Most notably, Wallace came close to winning in the Round of 12 at Texas Motor Speedway but was passed by William Byron late in the event. Ultimately, it led to his playoff elimination. Wallace closed out the campaign with 285 laps led (11th best) and a 15.9 average finishing position (15th best); however, it was the Round of 12 that ended his title hopes.

The 23XI Racing driver was already lacking playoff points and a third-place finish at Texas was his only shot. Wallace didn’t finish in the top 15 spots over the final two Round of 12 events and failed to make it to the Round of 8. Yet, it was still a successful year as he earned his first NASCAR Cup Series playoff berth as a driver.

Now, Wallace needs to take a step to the next level. He needs to win a race and make it to the Round of 8 to further his development. Either way, it doesn’t take away from the fact that Wallace ran very well near the end of the season. The driver of the No. 23 car showed pretty good speed and could be on the verge of a true breakout sooner rather than later.

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Bubba Wallace and Mark Hamill unveil Star Wars-themed paint scheme for NASCAR season finale

Gotta love a Star Wars-themed NASCAR paint scheme.

Bubba Wallace’s paint scheme for the last race of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season is straight out of a galaxy far, far away.

With the help of Star Wars actor Mark Hamill, Wallace unveiled the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota’s final paint scheme of the season for Sunday’s championship event at Phoenix Raceway — though Wallace and the No. 23 team were previously eliminated from contention. And it’s an awesome silver and black Star Wars-themed ride with strong Millennium Falcon vibes.

Highlighting sponsor Columbia’s new Star Wars collection, Wallace shows up to Hamill’s door in the reveal video, dressed in a fire suit resembling the design of X-wing pilot suits from the franchise, including a look Hamill wore as Luke Skywalker. Hamill compliments Wallace’s outfit before tossing him the “keys” to the No. 23 Toyota.

“Remember, Bubba, the force will be with you — always,” Hamill says at the end.

A great paint scheme reveal, especially for Star Wars fans, who might be a bit jealous of this car’s look, including self-described aspiring Jedi Ryan Blaney.

Update: Wallace’s 23XI Racing teammate, Tyler Reddick, has a Star Wars-inspired ride too.

Wallace tops Homestead-Miami practice

Bubba Wallace was the fastest overall in NASCAR Cup Series practice on Saturday morning at Homestead-Miami Speedway in his purple Grimace machine. Wallace’s fastest lap was 169.088 mph (31.936 seconds) and came on his first lap on the track. He was …

Bubba Wallace was the fastest overall in NASCAR Cup Series practice on Saturday morning at Homestead-Miami Speedway in his purple Grimace machine.

Wallace’s fastest lap was 169.088 mph (31.936 seconds) and came on his first lap on the track. He was among the first group of drivers to participate in practice. The 23XI Racing driver was also fastest in the best 10 consecutive lap average.

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“It’s good,” Wallace said. “I think the race is like 300 laps or something, so we’ve got to be fast for all of them. But the Grimace Toyota Camry TRD looks really good. Runs really good. I think the driver just has to show up and play really good tomorrow. So, it feels good to be back in Miami. I forgot how fun this place was.”

Wallace did not compete in the event at Homestead-Miami Speedway last season. After hooking Kyle Larson in the right rear the week before at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Wallace was suspended for one race.

Austin Cindric was second fastest at 167.999 mph and Ryan Blaney was third fastest at 167.764 mph. Christopher Bell was fourth fastest at 167.650 mph with Michael McDowell was fifth fastest at 167.468 mph.

Martin Truex Jr. was sixth fastest at 167.364 mph, ahead of Denny Hamlin in seventh at 167.152 mph. Tyler Reddick was eighth fastest at 166.935 mph, with Brad Keselowski at 166.770 mph and Chase Briscoe at 166.744 mph completing the top 10.

Kyle Larson, who is already locked into the Championship 4, was 17th fastest, while William Byron was 21st fastest and Chris Buescher, the slowest playoff driver in practice, was 32nd.

There was one incident in practice – Joey Logano clocked in 11th fastest overall before spinning off Turn 2 and hitting the inside wall on the backstretch. The Penske driver will go to a backup car for Sunday’s race and not make a qualifying lap.

“I was stuck in dirty air the whole run and I went to the bottom to try to pass Reddick and just lost it,” Logano said. “Just coming off the corner was throttling up and seemed everything was OK, and it just snapped around really late. It was kind of weird and surprised how late it happened.

“It’s a bummer. I thought we had a pretty good Shell/Pennzoil Mustang from the lap time perspective, and even being in traffic I thought we were decent. But we’ll have to pull out the backup and hopefully, it’s just as good.”

There are 36 drivers entered in the 4EVER 400 at Homestead.

Bubba Wallace talks about his elimination from the 2023 NASCAR playoffs

Bubba Wallace discusses his elimination from the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs following the Round of 12 finale at the Charlotte ROVAL.

[autotag]Bubba Wallace[/autotag] entered the Charlotte ROVAL with a nine-point deficit to the playoff cut-line and it was simply too much to overcome. Wallace had a really fast car but a mistake in the strategy battle at the end of Stage 1 put the team behind the proverbial eight ball. The driver of the No. 23 car was unable to make up enough ground and eventually finished in 16th place.

Wallace still had a successful playoff run as he was able to advance out of the Round of 12 in his first postseason appearance. Following the race at the Charlotte ROVAL, Wallace talked about his weekend and being eliminated from the 2023 NASCAR playoffs in the Round of 12.

“This weekend was incredible,” Wallace said. “Just from the effort from the team and from myself. Just all clicking, right? And it felt really good to be competitive and run upfront, pass cars on road courses and not be passed…It is what it is. Just didn’t have enough and it wasn’t in the cards…I’m pumped for our season. It’s not over yet.”

“I’m really excited for next week and Homestead and Martinsville. Phoenix, eh, I might just go on vacation. But we’ve still got four races to go out and do it. We weren’t supposed to be here according to a lot of people, but we proved them wrong and then proved a lot of people in the garage wrong that you can’t really count on the No. 23 at a road course race.”

Wallace may not have advanced to the Round of 8 but this will undoubtedly be a learning experience. It was the 23XI Racing driver’s first true taste of the playoffs and it will help him moving forward. It will be interesting to see how Wallace responds over the next four weeks and whether the No. 23 team can close out the 2023 NASCAR season with a victory.

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Larson crashes and Wallace fastest in eventful Roval practice

Kyle Larson will start at the rear of the field in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series elimination race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval in a backup car after crashing in practice. He hit the wall coming out of the infield section of the road course and …

Kyle Larson will start at the rear of the field in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series elimination race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval in a backup car after crashing in practice.

He hit the wall coming out of the infield section of the road course and onto the oval. The No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet got loose when making the transition onto the banking and hit the wall with the right front and then the right rear.

The 2021 series champion will not post a qualifying lap as the team makes the change to the backup car. Larson is 15 points above the playoff grid cutline.

“I just got loose entering [Turn] 8 and overcorrected and got the right front into the wall,” Larson said. “It gets bouncy over there, and it stepped out on me.”

Larson, however, wasn’t the only playoff driver to encounter trouble in practice. Christopher Bell was going down the backstretch toward the chicane when the No. 20 Toyota moved to the right and bounced off the wall.

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23XI Racing teammates Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick led the practice session. Wallace was fastest at 102.295mph (81.646s), while Reddick was second on the chart at 102.210mph.

Chase Briscoe was third fastest at 102.062mph, Corey LaJoie fourth at 101.983mph and AJ Allmendinger fifth at 101.957mph.

Ty Gibbs was sixth at 101.814mph, Daniel Suarez seventh at 101.725mph, Larson eighth at 101.692mph, Joey Logano ninth at 101.665mph and Chase Elliott 10th at 101.607mph.

The remaining playoff drivers in practice were Ryan Blaney (12th), Denny Hamlin (15th), Bell (17th), Ross Chastain (18th), Martin Truex Jr. (19th), Chris Buescher (20th), Brad Keselowski (21st), Kyle Busch (26th), and William Byron (29th).

The only other incident was Ty Dillon hitting the wall coming off Turn 1, damaging the right side of his Spire Motorsports Chevrolet.

There are 37 drivers entered in the Bank of America Roval 400.

Bubba Wallace’s playoff chances come down to Charlotte ROVAL in 2023

Bubba Wallace is below the playoff cut-line entering the Round of 12 finale and Charlotte ROVAL is his biggest challenge yet.

[autotag]Bubba Wallace[/autotag] came very close to clinching a spot in the Round of 8 at Texas Motor Speedway almost two weeks ago. It could have represented the coming out party for the No. 23 team but now Wallace sits nine points below the final transfer spot heading into the Round of 12 finale at the Charlotte ROVAL this weekend.

The driver of the No. 23 car has to climb out of a nine-point hole at a road course, which has not been his best style of racing in the NextGen car. Wallace has a best finish of 12th place at Watkins Glen International during the 2023 NASCAR season but luckily, the Charlotte ROVAL has been kind to him in the past.

Wallace finished in seventh place last season and 14th place in 2021. Overall, the Charlotte ROVAL has been his second-best road course behind the Indianapolis, which will revert back to an oval in 2024. Yet, Wallace’s best at the Charlotte ROVAL still may not be enough with Tyler Reddick looming below the cut-line.

If Wallace wants to keep his championship hopes alive, he will need to put on his best performance on a road course yet. The 23XI Racing driver is already facing an uphill battle against one of NASCAR’s best road course competitors. It will take a tremendous amount of work but Wallace has proven that he will not crack under pressure in the most important races of the year to this point.

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Wallace brings a winning mindset to the cusp of playoff advancement

Bubba Wallace and his 23XI Racing team are just about where he’d hoped they’d be as the season has progressed. In fact, it was just yesterday that Wallace reflected as much with 23XI Racing competition director Dave Rogers. “I said, about midway …

Bubba Wallace and his 23XI Racing team are just about where he’d hoped they’d be as the season has progressed. In fact, it was just yesterday that Wallace reflected as much with 23XI Racing competition director Dave Rogers.

“I said, about midway through the season, we were probably an eighth to 12th place car, and we’re sitting ninth in the points right now,” Wallace said at Talladega Superspeedway. “We’re right on the cusp of that.”

That cusp is also the final transfer spot into the next round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Wallace is two points below the cutline going into Sunday’s race, the second event in the second round.

“I think having an understanding that, usually when the playoffs start, there’s going to be at least two or three playoff cars that take care of themselves, whether that be failures, crashes, penalties – whatever that may be,” Wallace said. “Try not to be one of those. You go out and make sure you have a good day, execute solid, pit crew has a good day, crew chief, strategist, they execute solid. If that recipe is a 20th-place — OK, you missed it. But when you put yourself in a hole, it’s tough. That’s where the mistakes happen.

“I think we’re very capable of getting to the Round of 8. I look at the third round – those are really good racetracks. Going off what I watched last year in Homestead, the car looked really, really fast, so I’m excited to get there. Obviously (there’s) Vegas and Martinsville, so I think if we can just fight our (butts) off these next two weeks, it will be interesting to see what the No. 23 can do for the remainder of the playoffs.”

The boxes keep getting checked for Wallace. Although he hasn’t won a race this season, he earned a postseason berth for the first time. An average finish of 17.6 in the first three races was enough to survive and advance into the next round.

Aside from trying to win, Wallace’s mindset and goal of wanting more in the playoffs hasn’t changed. Advancing is advancing, no matter how it happens, and Wallace is focused on doing so.

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Texas Motor Speedway, the first race of the second round, was the “cleanest and greenest” of the season for everyone on the No. 23 team. Wallace started from the pole and led a race-high 111 laps, but only ended up with a disappointing third-place finish after leading on the overtime restart and being overtaken by William Byron

“When you’re in the top three every week, they say your win is bound to come,” said Wallace. “I do believe that. We just have to keep putting our name in the hat and keep doing what we know we are capable of doing.”

Bootie Barker, Wallace’s crew chief, has preached to his driver what a good team the No. 23 group is. Wallace has always believed as much, but there have been too many times when the team hasn’t been able to put together a complete race.

“I guess if you divide it between three pieces of the pie – driver, crew chief, pit crew – I feel like a lot of times, we’re showing up with two out of the three slices,” Wallace said. “We never had all three. We started to do that more and more and look at what we’re doing. It’s not from us trying harder or whatever; it’s just show up and bring our A-game, and we’ll take what we can get.”

The playoff newcomer admitted that understanding the mindset and appreciating it are two different things. When that happens, it can go a long way for a race team.

“It helps team morale,” Wallace said. “When you fight as one team – this sounds very bland – but you fight as one team, and you show up to the racetrack, and you’re ready to battle for whatever circumstances come your way — that is what makes us so good. We feel like we can overcome anything as long as we don’t take ourselves out. The races can get super long, and you can dial yourself right out, but if you have the right people in the right place to help you out, it makes that transition easy.”