Bubba’s 2024 hope — more winning
Bubba Wallace described the change in his year-ending points position – from 19th in 2022 to 10th this last season – as “a massive jump” as he assessed his campaign during NASCAR Champion’s Week in Nashville. The placement was his highest in six full seasons at the NASCAR Cup
Series level, but he noted one significant missing piece.
Wallace had scored one victory in each of the previous two seasons, since his start with 23XI Racing in 2021. Last season, Wallace found himself with noticeable improvement — or at least a hold-steady clip
— in several key statistics, including average finish and laps led. The rise in performance led to his first appearance in the Cup Series Playoffs, but without a win to show for his final tally.
“Everybody I see in the industry the last couple days have come up to me and continued to remind me how good the season was, and it is when you peel back the layers and look at it,” said Wallace, who last won at Kansas in September 2022 — 43 races ago. “We checked a lot of boxes, but I don’t know if it’s just me being young and hungry, but I got zero wins. So that bugs the hell out of me.”
The offseason has meant a period of reflection in the wake of the season-ending event at Phoenix Raceway, where he watched close friend Ryan Blaney clinch his first Cup Series title and where he lamented unintentional contact with Brad Keselowski, prompting a post-race apology.
That capped a campaign that sent Wallace into the Round of 12 before his postseason eligibility expired. The 30-year-old driver’s strongest chances of winning cropped up at a variety of tracks — an overtime bid that went south at Talladega in April, early power that faded at Richmond in July, and a show of dominance that evaporated late at Texas in September.
Those outings could bode well for Wallace next season, as he and 23XI teammate Tyler Reddick return with some newness approaching. The organization is moving toward setting up shop in a new headquarters building, and a new 23XI logo will adorn the team’s gear. The group will also have a reinvigorated Toyota body style for 2024 with the Next Gen Camry XSE set to debut.