Ahead of the first points race of the season at Daytona, Bubba Wallace had shared his goal of wanting to “disrupt the big three” and put his team 23XI Racing’s name amongst them. Wallace did try to do justice to his talk, putting on an impressive performance on Sunday, even though he fell short.
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Wallace’s teammate, Tyler Reddick, fulfilled that mission by winning the Daytona 500. And Wallace, on his part, did give the Hendrick Motorsports, Team Penske, and Joe Gibbs Racing drivers a run for their money. Starting deep in the pack at P27, he cut his way through the field, led 40 of 200 laps, the most by anyone in the race, and even bagged his first stage win at Daytona by staying out front through a 20-car pileup on lap 124.
On the final lap, Wallace was right in contention until the door slammed shut when a nearly out-of-control William Byron shot back up the track from the apron, forcing the #23 driver to pump the brakes and watch his momentum wane. He crossed the finish line in P10, the result leaving him gutted.
Even so, Wallace proved he could trade punches at the front. However, veteran Kyle Petty poured some cold water on the idea that they are disrupting the Cup Series hierarchy by presenting the bigger picture.
“I think we look at what 23XI did last year, and they struggled last year. Tyler [Reddick] struggled. We saw Bubba have some bright moments and do some great things, but the consistency wasn’t there,” said Petty.
“And I think that’s what these guys need this year, is that consistency. They started off winning races. Are they going to consistently win races this year, and that’s going to be the telltale sign of where 23XI is. I think they’re poised,” he added.
The NASCAR veteran said that while the pieces may be falling into place and the mindset may be heading in the right direction for the 23XI racing team, going toe-to-toe with the sport’s powerhouses remains a tall order. Taking the fight to teams like Hendrick Motorsports, Team Penske, or Joe Gibbs Racing doesn’t happen overnight.
Joe Gibbs Racing is perched at the top of Toyota’s NASCAR operation, and 23XI Racing draws equipment and parts from that pipeline. Petty declared that as long as a team relies on another team for its hardware, it cannot claim the top rung, no matter how many wins it stacks up.
JGR sits at the head of the Toyota table, just as Team Penske leads the Ford camp and Hendrick sets the pace for Chevrolet. While Petty respects Wallace’s competitive drive and desire to knock off the big three, he stressed that turning the tide is a long game. One race will not change the whole scene, as climbing into that space takes time and consistency.
For 23XI Racing, the path forward is to keep putting themselves in position and strike when the giants stumble, whether it is a Penske car missing the mark, a Gibbs entry off the boil, or a Hendrick run falling apart. Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin’s drivers showed they can, but to outpace the bigger NASCAR teams through the season, multiple factors, from consistent racing performance to operations and manufacturer support, need to be streamlined.
