Bubba Wallace to make 200th career Cup Series start at Nashville Superspeedway

This weekend is big for many drivers, but it will have extra special meaning for Bubba Wallace as he makes his 200th start in the Cup Series. The NASCAR driver is going to be the 143rd driver to reach the 200-race mark. For the 29-year-old, this is a big step in his career and there is more to come.

Longevity in any professional sport is impressive. While it doesn’t feel like it has been that long for Bubba Wallace in the Cup Series, he is going to make his 200th start before he turns 30. He has a chance to make it a great race, too. Nashville Superspeedway plays into Wallace’s strengths a bit more than other tracks recently.

It was Dover in 2020 where Wallace made his 100th start. Three years later, here we are.

In his 199 starts leading up to this weekend, Bubba Wallace has started to build momentum. He has two career wins, 15 top-fives, and 27 top-10s. Wallace also earned his first career pole award last season. In those 199 races, the driver completed more than 50,000 laps with a career average finish of 21.1.

While 143 drivers have made their 200th start in the Cup Series, only three have ever won during that milestone start. Hall of Famers Bobby Allison (Hampton, VA 1970) and Terry Labonte (Riverside 1985) won in their 200th start.

Most recently it was Kevin Harvick who achieved the accomplishment. Harvick won his 200th start at Watkins Glen back in 2006. Could Bubba Wallace add his name to that list of legendary drivers?

Can Bubba Wallace get back to the top-5 finishes?

Coming into this race, Bubba Wallace is in playoff position as he sits 15th in the standings. However, a handful of bad races could take that and throw it all away. Wallace has raced well in the middle part of the season perhaps for the first time in his career. He rallied off a slew of top-5 finishes ahead of his brake rotor failure at Gateway.

Looking at his history at Nashville, it is hard to measure how he will perform. He has performed better at these intermediate tracks and completed races. That is really the key to Wallace’s 2023 success. He has followed through on the good runs and qualifying speed.

Music City in the Cup Series, Bubba Wallace has finishes of P20 and P12 in the last two seasons at the track, respectively. If there is a way for Wallace to find that speed from Kansas and Darlington and Charlotte and bring it to Nashville, he should be in a good position.

Bubba Wallace is making a big start this weekend. 200 races down and likely another 200 or so on the way.