Bubba Wallace brings new zen to NASCAR Playoffs

Can Bubba Wallace win over the next 10 weeks during the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs?

Well, yes, but there is also a historic caveat.

“Absolutely,” Wallace said during Playoff Media Day in Uptown Charlotte on Wednesday. “Hell, I’m good at winning in the Playoffs when I’m not in the Playoffs.”

It’s funny because Wallace has three career wins and the first two came in the Playoffs when he wasn’t championship eligible at Talladega in October 2021 and Las Vegas in September 2022.

A caveat to the caveat for the latter is that his car was playoff eligible that season and he very much raced as if he were a contender that fall.

So while this is technically the second time Wallace has raced for a championship following his appearance in the 2023 chase for the championship, he also de facto had something to race for the year prior too.

His third win came in the Brickyard 400 earlier in the summer and marked the first time he locked himself in before the final race of the regular season. Wallace and first-year crew chief Charles Denike have had all summer to prepare for this moment and that’s a novel experience for the 31-year-old 23XI Racing driver.

“Hell, I came off a 26-week stretch of stress and we made it in,” Wallace said of 2023. “We were the last car in, right? You get Sunday to enjoy it but then you’re back into, ‘Alright, here’s the Playoffs.’ Now, I just came off a month-long, stress-free stretch. So, I think getting to experience that was really, really nice.

“I said for a month that I didn’t care. I didn’t care if we won, if we wrecked, whatever.”

Before anyone has a knee-jerk reaction, this doesn’t mean that Wallace isn’t invested. It’s just part of his larger season-long transformation into a much more even-keeled father, racer and man in general.

 “I care so much about racing that I can often get lost on where you’re at and that causes problems,” Wallace said. “It causes frustration, it causes speed loss, it causes everything. Richmond is a good example.

“We show up for practice and we were awful and I thought ‘well, Saturday is going to be a long day’ and then we’re leading. You know, I didn’t write off Richmond but I kind of just changed the approach.”

Taking a step back and keeping focused

Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota

Photo by: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Wallace lowered his expectations and was pleasantly surprised when all the pieces came together for a car capable of challenging for the win.

“You take a step back sometimes, analyze things better, slow them down, process everything and then you’re leading and have a dominant car,” Wallace said. “So I just look at Richmond as a big, big highlight for me and the mentality side of it. Yeah, we have to have just 10 weeks of that – with all four tires.”

The joke there, you may recall, is that Wallace lost his chance to win that race at Richmond due to a loose wheel.

Overall however, the point Wallace is trying to make is that he would have snapped in years past. He was prone to fits of anger and petulance. That hasn’t been the case from the moment he showed up for Daytona Speedweek this year.

Denike has done his part in transforming the No. 23 team into a force to be reckoned with and Wallace has upheld his end of the agreement to continue evolving into his best self.

That was his point when asked about his biggest strength ahead of the playoffs. His mental skills.  

“You guys probably wouldn’t give me that trait a couple of years ago,” Wallace said. “I feel good where I’m at. I feel confident where I’m at.”

Working with a new crew chief

Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford, Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota, Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Racing Ford

Photo by: Samuel Corum / Getty Images

He still thinks he can be better at controlling his emotions in the ‘heat of the moment’ but he really believes there have been significant gains on that front and credits Denike for a lot of it too.

“He has really been a lot of fun to work with and I feel like we vibed and meshed really quick,” Wallace said. “He has my back on a lot of scenarios and I appreciate that. Bootie (Barker, former crew chief) did as well, so none of that is going against Bootie.”

Wallace and Denike agreed on one goal above all else entering the season and that was to have fun. The idea was, if they are having fun, it’s because the results would match that enthusiasm.

“I think he has adapted to that,” Wallace said. “From Truck to Cup is an incredible step but I try not to put too much on his plate. … I think that has helped me drive smarter and have better races and ultimately get back to victory lane. He is incredible at what he does. There is still a lot of room for us to grow, but I’m excited for the future.”

And that includes the immediate future and tracks that Wallace believes set up very well for a deep playoff run.

“Like I said, I look at the schedule and there’s a lot of good tracks for us coming up,” Wallace said. “We’ve had speed at almost every track on the circuit for the next 10 weeks, so it just takes that little bit more. It takes beating out the 5 (Kyle Larson), the 24 (William Byron), the 11 (Denny Hamlin). It takes beating the other 15 guys you’re racing against to do that.

“We have had the speed to do that. We’ve got to clean up the execution and go capitalize on our speed.”