CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Bubba Wallace got a big hug from team owner Michael Jordan in the pits at Daytona last week after the racer clinched his first career NASCAR playoff appearance.
Now, Wallace is primed to show he and his 23XI Racing team have even more in the tank this season.
Wallace, winless this season, finished 12th at Daytona a week ago to become the final driver in the 16-team field that will compete for a NASCAR Cup Series crown starting Sunday night at Darlington Raceway.
It was a career achievement for Wallace. He sees even more ahead.
He loves the opening round of three races — Darlington, Kansas and Bristol — and believes his Toyota can advance into the round of 12 and beyond.
“There’s no reason why we can’t be better in the top eight, top four,” Wallace said Thursday in previewing the playoffs. “So I definitely feel good about that.”
Wallace seeks to be known as a championship driver along with a groundbreaker. His win at Talladega Superspeedway in 2021 made him the first Black driver to win a race in NASCAR’s top series since Hall of Famer Wendell Scott won in Jacksonville, Florida, nearly six decades earlier in 1963.
It came at the same track where a year earlier Wallace and his team found a noose in his garage stall. An FBI investigation found the item was a garage pull and there a year before Wallace’s team discovered it there.
Wallace, who at the time received death threats, said the incident would not “tear me down.”
Wallace has used his platform to bring attention to social justice issues in 2020, wearing an “I Can’t Breathe” T-shirt at Atlanta and running a “#BlackLivesMatter” paint scheme at Martinsville with the message, “Love, Compassion, Understanding.”
Wallace is glad to get recognition for what he’s accomplished on the track and wants even more. “We know we’re well capable of being better than 16th,” he said. “So we just have to go out and do what we need to do.”
It doesn’t hurt that Wallace’s 23XI teammate Tyler Reddick and team co-owner Denny Hamlin are also playoff drivers. Having people you’re close with to bounce off ideas or go over why things worked or didn’t will help make up for his lack of playoff experience, Wallace said.
Hamlin, chasing his first NASCAR series title, was glad to see Wallace’s breakthrough. “He knows what he’s capable of, so now go do it for yourself,” Hamlin said. “He did it for the team last year, now he needs to go do it for himself.”
A season ago, Wallace stepped into the No. 45 car when Kurt Busch was out with symptoms from a concussion sustained in a crash at Pocono. Wallace drove the car to 10th in the owner’s points standings.
Wallace was one of the founding members as a driver for the 23XI team, along with Hamlin and Jordan. The NBA superstar was thrilled with Wallace reaching the playoffs.
“He’s a big fan,” Hamlin said of MJ. “As you know, he travels to these races and he’s rooting on as much as anyone.”
Reddick, who drives the No. 45 Camry for 23XI, thinks that he and Wallace have been good on how best to improve their cars during team debriefings after races. “It’s been a good partnership,” said Reddick, who finished 13th in 2021 playoffs and 14th last season.
Wallace and his team celebrated making the playoffs at his house Sunday, taking a brief break before preparations began for Darlington. Wallace, who never finished higher that 16th at the “Lady in Black” first eight tries, has seemingly found his way around as he finished ninth and fifth his last two starts there.
It’s given him confidence that he can compete for he checkered flag, which would mean an automatic berth among the final 12 into the second round of the playoffs.
Wallace said it was important to celebrate the achievement, but quickly move back into race mode for bigger challenges ahead.
“I think in the moment, you know, it’s like, ‘Hey, we made it. Good job,’” Wallace said. “But time never stops. We keep on going and you have to be ready for the next task at hand.”
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