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Tired of Doing “Dumb SH*T” Every Year, Bubba Wallace Manifests a Breakthrough at COTA

Published 03/23/2024, 4:36 PM EDT

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23X1 driver Bubba Wallace isn’t known for his prowess or good runs at the road course race tracks. In fact, last season’s road course races were the ones that needed significant improvement coming into this season. And that is exactly what Wallace is trying to conjure after his average performances so far in the season.

Earlier today, Wallace in the #23 car was able to put in a solid performance in the qualifying rounds at the Circuit of the Americas. After finishing inside the top 10 starting positions, he now feels that the road course race will be a breakthrough event for him this season.

Bubba Wallace is frustrated with his performances so far in the season

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He did start the season on a high with a #5 finish at the season’s opening race at Daytona International Speedway. Continuing on his speedway run, he managed to repeat the same during the Atlanta race, again finishing #5. However, at a time when other Toyota drivers like Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, and even his teammate Tyler Reddick gained momentum, Wallace somehow lost his bearings going into the short-track races.

Acknowledging his shortcomings in the past few races, Wallace said, “Aside from speedway races, we have not been executing the way we should be. We’ve been taking ourselves out of the game. I’ve been doing dumb stuff. So it’s falling in the same trend as every other year. We had an in-depth meeting this week to basically get our sh*t together and start to turn around here.

Interestingly, in his three Cup Series starts at COTA, the 30-year-old has never managed even a top-20 finish. But despite this hard fact, he is still confident in getting a good run. “It’s a hard place for us to turn around, obviously, but I’m excited to be here. Excited about the work that we’ve put on for our road course prep. So, no reason why we can’t have a great race tomorrow,” Wallace added.

While the 23X1 star driver is gearing up for tomorrow’s race, he made sure to land a sarcastic jibe at his team owner, Michael Jordan, who finally made his appearance for the first time this season.

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Wallace cracks a joke about his team boss’s first appearance at the racetrack

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6x NBA champion and Hall of Famer Michael Jordan came out of the shadows and made his first official appearance for the 2024 NASCAR event at Circuit of the Americas. His presence certainly caught the attention of a lot of folks, including his team driver, Bubba Wallace.

FOX reporter Josh Sims asked Wallace about his team boss’s first appearance at the race track. In response, the driver poked fun at MJ, saying, “No surprise, hell, I hadn’t seen him in forever. I thought he quit the team. I thought Denny was the majority owner. So, nice to see him here.”

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Given that Wallace has been putting his effort and energy into trying to improve his track record at road course venues, he might produce the results in tomorrow’s Cup Series race.

Tyler Reddick Deciphers the Complications of His Relationship With Bubba Wallace

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Written by:

Chintan Devgania

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Chintan Mahesh Devgania is a NASCAR Writer at EssentiallySports. As someone who likes to dive deep into the sport, he often takes up less explored topics to eventually see them make their way into top stories. His report on Toyota’s young recruit, Jade Avedisian, sharing her thoughts on Late Model Racing, was an example of that.
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Edited by:

Shreya Singh