“I just know the resources that we’ve put in at 23XI, and all of our drivers should win. That is the expectation that I have of them.” Denny Hamlin’s serious words especially focused on Bubba Wallace. The No. 23 Toyota driver had a good streak until Mexico City. But then, Wallace encountered a brake failure in Pocono and got caught in the ‘Big One’ in Atlanta. This new trend of mishaps came to a climax in Chicago, where Wallace could have avoided his actions.

The Grant Park 165 race was filled with wrecks and issues. Carson Hocevar spun a wreck on lap 3 and Michael McDowell lost his lead due to a throttle issue. Bubba Wallace avoided all of that chaos and much more, and yet managed to lose his dominance in the ending laps. That is why a rebuke from his team owner was due.

Denny Hamlin defends his driver’s rival

After all, Alex Bowman was looking to avoid any kind of trouble. He and Bubba Wallace have a long history of rivalry, dating back to 2019 when Wallace threw water on Bowman’s face in Charlotte. Last year in Chicago, the two had an ugly exchange of bumps that ended with a hefty $50,000 fine on Wallace. This year as well, the encounter ended on a bitter note for Denny Hamlin’s 23XI Racing driver. He engaged in a number of collisions in the last ten laps, fighting with Bowman for 7th place. Finally, Bowman spun Wallace down DuSable Lake Shore Drive while exiting Turn 2. As a result, Bowman salvaged an 8th-place finish while Wallace nursed his wounds with a 28th-place finish.

In a recent ‘Actions Detrimental’ episode, Denny Hamlin lamented about Bubba Wallace’s lack of focus. Wallace overcame vast hurdles – he started from the rear due to unapproved adjustments, climbed up, and then fell back again after stage 2 due to contact with Kyle Larson. So Hamlin said, “Would have liked to see the No. 23 team get to the finish line with a good finish. They bounced back from a very tough start of the race.” He continued that the playoffs were more important than the In-Season Challenge. “Bigger picture is, do you want to be in the playoffs or do you not? Man, you just can’t take yourself out. They are faster than the cars, they are all around in points. But they just don’t execute. I know speed-wise, shouldn’t be in this position.”

This does not paint a very good picture of Bubba Wallace‘s seat, as his last victory was way back in 2022. What is more, Denny Hamlin strongly defended Alex Bowman, while dissing his own driver’s intent. He said, “I’m looking and watching the replay and I’m like, ‘The 48 — I just don’t understand what he did wrong there.’ He got pinched into the wall off of [Turn] 12, his bump into Bubba into 1 wasn’t egregious or anything, wasn’t square in the back, it was kind of left rear…At that time, Bubba’s on older tires, and the 48 is on newer tires. You’re just not going to hold that back in six laps. It’s impossible. We saw the speed difference between new and old tires.”

Clearly, it is time for Bubba Wallace to get on a war footing. While he does so, he is also allotting time to help out his friend.

Rolling out golden advice

Well, the pressure is indeed mounting for Bubba Wallace’s 23XI Racing seat. Yet while things are growing tougher for him on the racetrack, Wallace can look forward to beautiful things off it. He and his wife, Amanda Wallace, welcomed their first child, Becks Hayden, in 2024. Together, they are watching the little one grow. Becks took steps in NASCAR when he joined in on the celebration earlier this year after Wallace’s victory in a Daytona 500 qualifying race. As Wallace is embracing his duties of fatherhood, he is also teaching a friend how to do the same. Yet, Ryan Blaney and his wife Gianna are expecting their first child this December. And Blaney keeps drilling his good friend Bubba about how to prepare for this joyous occasion.

Bubba Wallace recently divulged his enthusiasm about helping out Blaney. He said, “I’ve known for a while, obviously, and just hearing how excited they’ve been. Gianna has been going through a little rough patch just from the sickness and stuff. It’s crazy how everybody’s different through their pregnancies and everything. Amanda was, for the most part, OK, and Gianna’s been taking it all in stride, but excited to see them become parents.” Blaney is also totally invested in seeking his help: “I ask him all the time for advice, what are some goods and what are the struggles of a newborn and things like that. So it’s been nice to have him right there and kind of go through the same thing.”

Bubba Wallace’s life is beautiful right now with a son in his midst. Yet alongside his fatherhood, Wallace needs to devote time to his racing duties as well. Let us see if he can turn around his misfortune soon.