Bubba Wallace’s bid to qualify for the 16-driver NASCAR Cup Series playoffs ended in disappointment as he finished 16th in the Southern 500 at Darlington. This outcome starkly contrasts with his 23XI Racing teammate Tyler Reddick, who secured the regular-season championship. Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi from The Athletic have analyzed Wallace’s season, claiming 23XI Racing “has not done a very good job.”
Throughout the season, Wallace showed flashes of potential with five top-10 finishes in the final eight races. However, the NASCAR system heavily rewards victories, and Wallace failed to secure a single win during the regular season.
His efforts were undermined by just one stage win and three DNFs due to incidents involving other drivers. Jeff Gluck from The Athletic noted on ‘The Teardown‘ podcast:
“Next year, Bubba’s just gotta come out and don’t even worry about the points. Just go for wins.
Bubba Wallace, driver of the #23 U.S. Air Force Toyota, speaks to the media after winning the pole award during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on August 31, 2024 in Darlington, South Carolina. Bubba Wallace has missed out on the playoffs.
Meg Oliphant/Getty Images
“His car has had the capability of winning. Go for wins.”
Bubba Wallace’s journey at 23XI Racing has been turbulent. It’s now his fourth year with the team, and despite showing promise, the playoff appearances have been sparse—only once in these four years.
In comparison, his teammate Reddick has won two races each of the last two years and clinched the regular season championship.
Several experts have weighed in on the key areas where Wallace and his team need to improve. Jordan Bianchi from The Athletic pinpointed the lack of stage points as a crucial issue, stating:
“One stage win this year. This team has not done a very good job of not just winning stages, they haven’t done a very good job of getting stage points. That has certainly added up.
“They had a stretch this year of nine races where they had eight finishes outside the top-10. That’s not gonna cut it especially when it’s supposed to be some of his best tracks. Talladega, Kansas, Charlotte, you know, look at those places.
“You have to go there and maximize it. Where he has ran as of late has been great. You have to take this six-race stretch or whatever it is and you gotta do that over 26 races.
“… This is year four for Bubba Wallace at 23XI Racing. They’ve made the playoffs one time. He’s won two races. That’s tough to swallow when your teammate is — Reddick has won two races in each of the last two years, and just won the regular season championship.
“That’s hard. There’s gonna be a lot of pressure on Bubba next year. You’ve got to take that next step. Some of the things you can’t control. You can’t control getting wrecked at Michigan when you got a fast racecar.
“You can’t control tonight in a race where you really did a great job. Came here, won the pole, finishes second in Stage 1, earned a bunch of stage points. He put himself in a position to keep knocking down that total. Chris [Buescher] was on the ropes.
“But then the speed went away a little bit and that’s another problem with this. Sometimes they don’t do a good enough job of staying on top of it and the car fades a little bit. You gotta stay on top of that. They got back in traffic there and got caught up in a wreck.
“Bad luck, but you’ve gotta stop putting yourself in those positions where you’re at Michigan and you’re in the middle of the pack with a fast car. Sometimes that’s unavoidable with pit stop cycles, but too often it seems like they find themselves in these spots where they shouldn’t be, and bad things happen to them.”
