Bubba Wallace and No:23 team has ‘No excuses’ to continue performing poorly: Bootie Barker
Bubba Wallace is currently 22nd in the Cup Series standings after the NOCO 400.
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Bubba Wallace and Bootie Barker. Image via RACER.
Bubba Wallace had a strong second half in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season. As a result of that, he was enthusiastic about the 2023 season. There were high expectations. However, things didn’t go as expected in the first 9 races of the year after 3 DNFs. Wallace’s best finish was at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He finished fourth. His second top-ten finish of the season came at the Martinsville Speedway. The 23XI Racing driver finished ninth at NOCO 400.
Bootie Barker, Bubba Wallace’s crew chief, feels that the No:23 team can do better, and is not where they want to be yet. The 29-year-old has been hard on himself for his mistakes on the track. The team also made its fair share of mistakes. Before the NOCO 400, his crew chief Bootie Barker appeared on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. He spoke about the season so far, which included the struggles. Though there were issues, Barker feels encouraged because the team brings a fast car.
Barker stated, “I would say the majority of the time we definitely got speed. We, as a group, though, the No. 23 car, we need to get better. We need to extract finishes from that speed. I feel like we will. We will. I’m not saying this stretch of tracks (in the past) was necessarily our favourites as far as our group, but that’s no excuse. You got to run them. You got to do good. We better get after it here coming up. These are no excuse venues for us. Looking forward to them.”
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Bubba Wallace and the No:23 team are optimistic about the upcoming races
The next three tracks are Talladega, Dover, and Kansas. Bubba Wallace has performed well in these tracks before. Hence, Bootie Barker is optimistic. Talladega is a special track for Bubba Wallace and his fans. It was where he won his first Cup Series race in 2021. Of all the tracks, Wallace had the least success in Dover, his best result was 11th place in 2021.
Kansas is another memorable track for Wallace. He defended against Denny Hamlin, the team’s co-owner, and won the race last season. It was his second Cup Series win. It is no wonder the team is optimistic about the next few races, but the question is whether it would translate to results. There is an incredible amount of pressure to perform.
Bubba Wallace’s 2022 season was well-improved, and this led many to believe he would contend for victories this season. Micheal Jordon, 23XI Racing co-owner, wanted to help Wallace enhance his performance. Hence, he brought in the 2021 eNASCAR Coca-Cola Racing champion Keegan Leahy as his performance consultant. It is understood that Wallace has all the help he needs. It is only a matter of time before wins races.
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Sugantha Meena
(493 Articles Published)