In 2022, the 23XI Racing team expands to a second car, with Kurt Busch joining Bubba Wallace. Recently, the #23 driver spoke to Fox Sports about the upcoming season and his new teammate. The driver confessed that there is a fair amount of pressure on him, especially since he has to juggle the expectations of co-owners Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan. However, he insisted that most of it comes from within himself.

Speaking about Busch, he said, “He’s definitely ahead of me. Been able to learn from that and play catch up as quick as I can. He’s going to push me to be better. We are teammates, but we are competitors too, and so when he beats me or vice-versa, we’re going to be like ‘What’s different? What did you do, your team do or what did we do’. That’s how we grow together.”

What else did Bubba Wallace say about Kurt Busch?

The African-American driver has just come off a fairly successful season. This includes a surprise win at the Talladega Superspeedway, which is his home track. Wallace is looking forward to working alongside a veteran driver of Kurt Busch’s caliber. However, he has no delusions that the 2004 Cup Series champion will make it easy for him.

He continued, “It’s going to be a lot of fun to have conversations with him. Get to know him as a person, definitely a joy to be around. It’ll be interesting to see once the season ramps up, how that dialogue will continue to grow. The dynamic between our teams as we continue to grow in the sport.”

One thing is for sure, Bubba Wallace and Kurt Busch will be eager to propel 23XI Racing up the order. The first order of business will be to adapt well to the Next Gen cars and then gun for Playoff positions.

READ MORE: “Watched That Race Probably 100 Times” – Bubba Wallace Reflects on his Talladega Win