Despite not making the playoffs, Bubba Wallace is taking all the positives he can get from the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season. The 23XI Racing driver had a solid run at Bristol on Sunday as he finished in an impressive P3. After the race, the 30-year-old realized that statistically, this had been his best year in the sport so far. However, given how he isn’t in the hunt for a championship, that claim can be viewed with a bit of doubt.
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“With about 20 to go, I was figuring it wasn’t going to play out in our favor but thank god it did. All in all, a good day, a good top five. Hey, our stats say it’s our best year yet. Now we’re six and 11. Six top-fives and 11 top-10s so good day,” he said after the race.
The numbers show that it has been the #23 driver’s most successful run in the competition so far. Six top-five and 11 top-10 finishes are indeed impressive stats but a driver’s success is not measured by these metrics primarily. That would be race wins and championships, both of which the 30-year-old has not done a lot of so far in his career. He last won at Kansas in 2022 and there has not been much to celebrate since.
If only Wallace had been more consistent with these performances in the regular season, the #23 might have been in the playoffs right now. That’s what the team will hope to do next season as missing out on playoffs is not an option for a driver of a team as good as 23XI Racing. That pressure has increased since Tyler Reddick won the regular season championship.
Wallace’s numbers with 23XI Racing so far
This is Wallace’s fourth year with the team and it has been a decent run so far. He won in his first two years with the outfit and made it to the playoffs in his third. However, the wins have dried up as time has gone on. In 2021, the #23 car won the second Talladega race of the season and earned three top-five and three top-10 finishes. Things got better the following season as he won the second race at Kansas and earned five top-five and 10 top-10 finishes.
In 2023, Wallace was not able to win a single race but made it through to the playoffs for the first time in his career. His stats were the same as the previous season, only without the race win. Arguably, this was his best season in the sport since he made it into the playoffs and went to the round of 12. This year, he has yet to win a race and has not made it to the playoffs either.
Based on that, some might say this has been his worst year with 23XI Racing so far. However, it is good to see the driver taking the positives from a year in which there has hardly been anything to be happy about.
