Bubba Wallace is feeling good about the 2024 NASCAR season.
One of the most polarizing drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series, the driver of the #23 car for 23XI Racing has had plenty of ups and downs in his racing career.
Wallace has two wins in his Cup Series career, and last year he made the playoffs for the first time, ending the year 10th in the final points after a previous-best finish of 19th in the championship standings.
But he’s also let his emotions get the best of him at times.
Bubba’s a driver who wears his heart on his sleeve, and sometimes those emotions have gotten him in trouble, like when he was suspended for intentionally wrecking Kyle Larson in 2022. And he’s been open about doubting himself at times, admitting that he’s often gone into races expecting to have a bad day.
Sounds like he’s got a new mindset for 2024 though.
Bubba joined the Door Bumper Clear podcast, which is co-hosted by his spotter Freddie Kraft, where he talked about how things have changed on his outlook over the past year.
Obviously Bubba had a career-best season last year, which he admits helped with his confidence:
“Confidence coming off last year. For the last three years, I’ve been racing to prove you wrong, prove you wrong, prove you wrong, prove people over here wrong. What the f*ck does that matter?
Go out and race because you know how to race and win races and have fun with it.
I got caught up in all the BS that came my way and, whatever, but it’s like, let’s get back to how it was.”
And he says that having a teammate like Tyler Reddick has helped him elevate his own game:
“Reddick’s fast everywhere…At the end of the year we were running right there with him…
It made me step up and deliver more, but now I feel like we’re both kind of helping each other climb the ladder, if you will. So it should be a good year for both of us. I’m excited.”
Bubba says that newfound confidence has him looking forward to most of the races on the schedule this year.
When asked which tracks he has circled on his calendar, Bubba had a long list of races he thinks he can win:
“Vegas, Kansas…Mile and a halves, looking really forward to.
Honestly we were talking, we made such a big leap last year. The only track I can say is a weakness right now…Chicago, Sonoma? It’s still road courses…
I’m looking forward to a lot of the races this year, to be honest with you.”
Bubba backed up that confidence with a strong 5th place finish in the Daytona 500, and he’s been good at Atlanta, where the series heads to this weekend.
So will it be a breakout season of sorts for Bubba Wallace? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
But with a guy like team owner Michael Jordan spending time at the track, gotta think Bubba’s feeling the pressure to go out and get that 23 car in victory lane sooner rather than later.
