Bubba Wallace honoring military veterans with 'Flying Tiger' paint scheme at Dover

This weekend for the Wurth 400 at Dover Motor Speedway, Bubba Wallace has a brand new paint scheme to honor military veterans. Based on the famous Flying Tigers who flew in WWII, the scheme is tied to a new TV ad Xfinity will debut during the NASCAR race.

23XI Racing and the Air Force struck a new deal for 2024. The U.S. Air Force had been partnered with the Petty family for years. In fact, Bubba Wallace spent three years with the Air Force as his sponsor during his time with Petty GMS.

When Bubba Wallace got together with the design team, he knew what he wanted. The old Warthog scheme. However, they went one better and picked the design that inspired that design – the Flying Tigers.

“I think, one, it’s exciting to have the Air Force back,” Bubba Wallace said in an interview with 5GOATs. “To be a part of my career and the legacy we’re trying to build at 23XI. So I think that’s super humbling, very appreciative of that. But when I walked in, day one, I was like, ‘Hey we need to bring back the Warthog scheme, people want it.’ I thought it was the best-looking scheme in the garage.

“So, to be able to incorporate now the Flying Tiger scheme, it has a lot of resemblance to the Warthog scheme. But it’s just super cool to be able to kind of deliver on that standpoint and then to just be able to represent the Air Force.”

Bubba Wallace will carry the names of four Vietnam veterans on his car during the Dover race. Those four veterans will be featured in the Xfinity commercial during the Wurth 400. It’s something that Wallace is looking forward to.

“They put their lives on the line for us to be able to race at Dover. So, it’s the least that I can do is to give back and give a good result.”

23 team putting an ’emphasis’ on qualifying

This weekend at Dover is one that the 23 team is looking forward to. Starting with Talladega last week, this stretch of spring races from Dega to Charlotte is right in Wallace’s wheelhouse.

The difference between this season and other seasons for Wallace is his points position. Right now, he’s 11th in points, 12 points above the 16th-place cutline. It’s a place that he hasn’t been before, and it has a lot to do with his qualifying efforts this season.

“I think halfway through last season it was like, ‘Hey, we suck at qualifying.’ And then we started putting a lot of emphasis on what we need to do for qualifying. We keep track, you know, I think it’s five in a row for us right now,” Wallace said prior to Talladega where he qualified P14. “You said it’s six out of nine but I think it’s five in a row of keeping the second-round streak going.”

That has led to three top-5 finishes and another top-10. Even at tracks where Bubba Wallace has historically struggled, he has been able to earn career-best finishes, like his P4 result at Martinsville.

Now that he is able to regularly make the second round of qualifying, there is one more step to take – win pole awards.

“I think realizing your weak spots, the low-hanging fruit, and being able to attack that and do better. It’s just a lot of effort we put in throughout the week. Giving the right information for me to go out and execute qualifying. Now we just gotta work on, ‘Hey we suck at getting the pole.’”

Dover is one of the tracks Bubba Wallace loves to race at, but the results haven’t matched his enthusiasm for the Monster Mile.

Bubba Wallace looking forward to having fun at Dover

Despite only having a career-best of P11 at Dover, it’s a track that Wallace looks forward to each season. One of those tracks that certain drivers just love to race on. The high banks, the concrete, all of it makes for a unique and interesting race track.

It used to scare Bubba Wallace. Now, he has it circled on his schedule.

“Dover has been a place that scared the hell out of me when I first showed up but ever since then it’s been really, really fun, whether it’s a good result or a bad result,” Wallace said. “It’s a place that I wish, I don’t know, I know the racing’s okay there, but man, I don’t know what’s a more exciting race track than Dover. So, that makes it fun and more appealing to show up and run good.”

In the next few weeks, Wallace has his best shot at winning a race. His 23XI Racing teammate Tyler Reddick just knocked down Talladega. Now, Wallace has his focus on getting his own checkered flag.

“Absolutely, there’s no better stretch than right now. We’re in the best spot we’ve been in points. It’s still early, of course, anything can happen. … Usually, we’re just clawing and fighting to get out of 21st, 25th, at this point, right? So, it’s fun to be where we’re at right now, it’s a lot more work, it’s a lot more challenging but that’s what we’re ready for.

“That’s the type of work that we look forward to showing up and conquering each and every weekend. So this next stretch of races is really playing to our hand, playing to our favor. Doesn’t mean that it’s a guarantee, you’re not entitled to get the good run that you think you should get so you have got to go out and fight for it and earn it the hard way.”