Wallace pleased with early-season form, but still focused on what’s next

A third of the way through the NASCAR Cup Series, the only thing teams have not seen is a street course event.

“And me in victory lane,” Bubba Wallace cracked.

He said it. Not us.

But it is the only negative, if there is one, that can be held against Wallace and his 23XI Racing team as the summer stretch begins with the Coca-Cola 600 (Sunday, 6 p.m. ET). The good news is that Charlotte Motor Speedway is a welcome sight for Wallace. A year ago, Wallace would have ranked the short tracks above all else but now feels the intermediate facilities are where the team has been thriving.

“I feel like our mile-and-a-halfs are really, really strong,” Wallace said. “I was really happy with the car the first 30 laps of Kansas; we had our penalty and then were mired back in traffic and weren't the same there. But I was really happy with how the weekend went. Texas – really happy with how the weekend went up until we crashed. So, I look at those races last year, there was nothing really to write about when we showed up to mile and a halfs. We would grind out for a top 10 finish.

“But we’re getting stage points now, we’re competitive, our name is in the hat. We just now have to close out the deal. I think through the summer stretch, yes, I’m excited for what’s next.”

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The next three races are all on intermediate racetracks (Charlotte, Nashville, Michigan) before the inaugural trip to Mexico City. The latter is a road course, which could be a wild card in Wallace’s mind since no driver knows how it’s going to play out. Then, three weeks later, Wallace will be making left and right hand turns again in Chicago and Sonoma.

It would be easy to write Wallace off at those tracks. They were never his strong suit in the past and brought more frustration than fun. But he laughed that he’s turned it around at road courses and enjoys those visits now.

“I think it’s just going to be surviving there, capitalizing on the good moments, not having any mistakes,” Wallace said of the first one on the list, Mexico City. “I look at Sonoma probably the biggest road course I need to figure out, but Chicago, we’ve always had speed. It’s been really good to us. So, I don’t see any hints of doubt through the next couple months, which is nice to have.”

The biggest difference for Wallace this season has been stage points. Wallace is fourth in stage points earned (100) and he is 10th in the overall championship points. With 103 laps led, Wallace is one of 10 drivers who have already led more than 100 laps this season.

Because they are running on the top half of the leader – four top-10 finishes in 12 races – it has resulted in stage points. It was not something the team set a goal of accomplishing.

“We’ve been running well, and we’ve just been executing just a little bit better,” Wallace said. “I hope y’all never ask me this question, but it’d be like, what’s the difference between Bootie [Barker] and Charles [Denike]? There really is nothing. Personalities, for sure. We’ll put that out there. It’s just … I don’t know.

“I don’t know if it’s the mental prep going into it, the data analytics stuff that’s all been the same. I’ve done a lot work on self, on the mental side, the physical side, to make sure that I am fit for the job. And so, you have to think that everything everyone is doing is just clicking, and it seems to work. No, we did not set out for stage points but we know what we’re capable of doing, and if we run where we’re capable of then there is stage points there. That’s the easy way to put it.

“It’s mind boggling just how crucial stage points are because eight years in Cup, I’ve never been 10th in points 12 races in. I’ve been the drama for the last four races leading up to the playoffs of trying to make it in. I’m not saying we’re locked in by any means but 56 points … Kansas sucked, we lost 20 points there … but 56 points to the good, I’ve never said that before. It’s cool to say that.”

Wallace has never won his way into the postseason, and he last earned a postseason berth in 2023 on points. There are 14 races left in the regular season.