Bubba Wallace experienced a wealth of emotions after advancing to the Round of 12 at Bristol on Saturday.
The 23XI Racing wheelman proved his doubters wrong, and gave his supporters new life as he moved into the next round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. While Wallace has yet to win on the season, he still remains in the hunt for the ultimate prize, the Cup Series title.
Speaking with the media afterwards, Wallace explained how special the accomplishment was for him, and where he goes from here.
“Trying to gather my thoughts and man, just emotional,” Wallace said. “I said to myself out loud – not on the radio – ‘Proud of you, kid.’ And we all know I rarely do that. Just, way to stick with it. Tried to throw it away a couple of times. Got frustrated with myself, frustrated with others, but it all worked out. What you need to do is execute.
“This is a special day and gotta cherish it, but can’t get complacent. We know Texas is up. We’re OK there. But we’ve gotta come out swinging and come out on the right end of it.”
Alas, the job isn’t done for Wallace. He’s on to the next round, and he wants to continue to prove he belongs with the best the sport has to offer.
He’ll have his shot over the next three races. Time will tell if Bubba Wallace can keep his run going, but we’re not betting against his shot.
Denny Hamlin ‘really happy’ Bubba Wallace advanced to Round of 12
Continuing, Wallace is in just his third season behind the wheel of the No. 23 Toyota for 23XI Racing, and he still has a chance to win his first-career Cup Series championship, which Denny Hamlin said is an amazing achievement.
“Yeah, I’m really happy with where that team is progressing to. Really happy for Bubba,” the 23XI Racing co-owner said after the race. “I think the highest he’s ever finished is 20-something in points. He’s doing well. He’s really working on his craft… Doing all the right things. He’s really working with the team well. Him and Tyler are working really well together.
“Yeah, I’m very happy with the trajectory that that whole organization’s on. I mean, not three years complete, to have two cars now in the round of 12, very humbling. Certainly our goal going into the year was to have two cars in the Playoffs. Now to have two in the next round, this is just icing on the cake. This is nothing but bonus from here on out.”
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