Watching a fellow contender pry away glory and fame from right under your eyes can serve as a strong fuel to fire up ambitions and goals. That has been the case for 23XI Racing star Bubba Wallace, as well. The #23 Toyota Camry’s pilot publicly expressed his displeasure watching Ryan Blaney lift the 2023 Cup Series title back in December. And now, he has pulled in his career’s strongest start yet in 2024.
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In the season-opening race at Daytona, Wallace finished 5th and recorded his third top-five finish in the Great American Race. Though it is a result that plenty of others would vie for, Wallace wasn’t content with it. “This was the cleanest 500 car I’ve ever had. That’s nice! A lot of positives. The team, 95% execution, but you got to have 100. I don’t know exactly what happened,” he said.
Superspeedways have always been a strong forte for him and that was visible in his second outing behind his Camry as well. At the end of the Ambetter Health 400 in Atlanta, Wallace came out with yet another top-five finish. Impressively, he did so on top of suffering a spin and incurring a speeding penalty.
His fifth-place finish at the 1.54-mile track has now put him fourth in the points table and in a comfortable position going to Las Vegas. He will be hoping to maintain this momentum and gather up his playoff spot with a win rather than waiting till the last breath like in his last outing.
Bubba Wallace keeps himself in line with Denny Hamlin’s expectations
Before the official start of the season, 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin had made his demands from the drivers very clear. “We are not an underdog. This is not an underdog team anymore for sure. Patting ourselves on the back for running in the top 10, that’s a very modest goal. I expect them to contend for wins and top 5s on a regular basis,” he’d said.
Hamlin will be pleased to see Wallace running parallel to his words thus far. His words of confidence and support appear to have created an impact on the young driver. Tyler Reddick, on the other hand, has produced results on the opposite end of the spectrum. He ended up 30th on Sunday and did not finish the Daytona 500.
The 23XI Racing team is now functioning at a new race shop that has been named “Air Speed”. With all the added resources at their disposal, Hamlin’s drivers can only go up from Atlanta. Their next race will be at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 3.
