Professional athletes have to look at their successes and mistakes if they want to improve, that is no different for Bubba Wallace. The NASCAR Cup Series driver has no problem watching races where he did poorly, went laps down, finished his race with an early wreck – but one race he refuses to watch.
Today Bubba Wallace will start P10 at COTA. Last season, after an early DNF due to a mistake on his part, Wallace was highly critical of himself. He infamously alluded to the fact that maybe he needed to be replaced for making a rookie mistake in his sixth Cup Series season.
Then Wallace went on to have a career season where he made the playoffs and finished 10th overall on the year. His road course racing and qualifying have all gotten better. Perhaps in part thanks to his poor performances in the past.
Talking with Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports, Wallace wasn’t worried about rewatching COTA from last season. In fact, he did watch it. He watched the entire race and practice and qualifying from this weekend.
So, what race won’t he rewatch? Texas Motor Speedway, 2023 NASCAR Playoffs. Wallace had the lead and on a late restart was bested by William Byron who took the win from under him.
“It’s quick, I watched eight laps and I turned it off,” Wallace joked of his 2023 COTA experience. “No, I’ve watched, I went back and watched, obviously, the race last year, the highlights from practice and qualifying yesterday for both series. So, even when you take yourself out – the only one I won’t watch is Texas [Motor Speedway]. Everything else I watch if I crash out Lap One, I’ll watch it. I won’t watch Texas.”
Bubba Wallace has rare qualifying success at COTA
Starting P10 today is a big deal for Bubba Wallace and the 23 team. It is rare that he makes it into the final qualifying round on road courses. Last year in the postseason, Wallace was on it when it came to qualifying. He made the final round in all but one race during the 10-race playoffs.
In his career, Wallace’s best qualifying result of P4 on road courses. That was the Roval a season ago. The only other time he has ever qualified in the top-10 at a road course was Daytona Road Course in 2021. There have only been two occasions Wallace has finished a road course race in the top-10, too. Those finishes of P5 and P7 came at the 2022 Indy Road Course and 2022 Roval.
When it comes to COTA, Wallace has even worse luck. In three attempts, the 23XI Racing driver has finishes of P39, P38, and P37. Hey, at least he’s improved each year. His best qualifying effort at the track was in 2023 when he started P11. However, his average start at COTA is 17.333.
You never want to count your chickens before they hatch and all of those cliches. Still, Bubba Wallace will have one of his better starting positions in a road course race ever and his best start at COTA ever. If he manages to make it more than a few laps, he could have a career-best finish at the track. Can Wallace stay in the top-10 throughout the race?
More must-reads: