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What to Expect as Bubba Wallace Steps Back into an NASCAR Xfinity Car After Three Long Years

Published 08/18/2021, 2:25 PM EDT

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Bubba Wallace last competed in the Xfinity Series in 2017 and has been racing in the Cup Series ever since. At the moment, the Africa-American driver competes on a full-time basis for 23XI Racing. Now, he will return to the Xfinity Series for a one-off appearance with Hattori Racing Enterprises’ #61 car.

To be precise, the 23XI Racing driver will assume the Xfinity role at the Michigan International Speedway, as the substitute driver for Austin Hill, who is expecting to focus on his Truck Series campaign. This is because the Truck Series playoffs kick off with the weekend at the World Wide Technology Raceway.

As mentioned before, this will not be Wallace’s first rodeo in the Xfinity arena. In fact, the driver boasts of 85 career starts with a best finish of second at Dover in 2016. Around that time, he used to race for Roush Fenway Racing, before he parted ways in mid-2017.

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Bubba Wallace is excited to return to the Xfinity series

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“I’m excited to race again in the Xfinity Series,” said Wallace. “Michigan is a track where I’ve run well in the past and even won in the Truck Series. Anytime we can get extra track time, it helps. Just to get extra laps before the Cup race on Sunday will be good with no practice or qualifying.

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Of course, this also means that Wallace will be pulling double duty at Michigan. This also means that Hill will be able to fully concentrate on his Truck Series campaign. According to him, the first playoff race is always important and he should be in with a shout of victory.

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Meanwhile, team owner Shige Hattori confessed that he is excited to welcome Wallace to the team. Without a doubt, his experience and talent will be a huge boon for the Xfinity side.

“Pretty Fun” – Bubba Wallace on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course

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Written by:

Dhruv George

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Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.
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