NASCAR insiders critical of 23XI team strategy holding Bubba Wallace back

Bubba Wallace failed to make the 16-driver NASCAR Cup Series playoff field after finishing 16th in Sunday’s Southern 500 at Darlington.

It’s certainly a disappointment, especially when you consider his 23XI Racing teammate Tyler Reddick took home the regular season championship. Wallace had some inconsistencies this season, but did tally five top 10s in the final eight races of the regular season. But in a system which rewards getting to Victory Lane, Wallace needed to win to feel completely safe. That never materialized, and racing for points wasn’t enough to get him through.

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Looking ahead to next season, Jeff Gluck of The Athletic believes Wallace needs a change in strategy.

“Next year, Bubba’s just gotta come out and don’t even worry about the points. Just go for wins,” Gluck said on “The Teardown” podcast. “His car has had the capability of winning. Go for wins.”

Bubba Wallace fails to make playoff cut after going winless in regular season

In looking for what went wrong for Wallace this regular season, Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic found a common theme. Wallace failed to pick up stage points, winning just one stage this season. Wallace found himself in other drivers’ messes, resulting in three DNFs.

If Wallace is going to take that next step at 23XI, he and his team must do a better job of putting themselves in better positions, Bianchi said.

“One stage win this year,” Bianchi said. “This team has not done a very good job of not just winning stages, they haven’t done a very good job of getting stage points. That has certainly added up. They had a stretch this year of nine races where they had eight finishes outside the top-10. That’s not gonna cut it especially when it’s supposed to be some of his best tracks. Talladega, Kansas, Charlotte, you know, look at those places. You have to go there and maximize it. Where he has ran as of late has been great. You have to take this six-race stretch or whatever it is and you gotta do that over 26 races.

NASCAR insider explains how Bubba Wallace can improve in 2025

“… This is year four for Bubba Wallace at 23XI Racing. They’ve made the playoffs one time. He’s won two races. That’s tough to swallow when your teammate is — Reddick has won two races in each of the last two years, and just won the regular season championship. That’s hard. There’s gonna be a lot of pressure on Bubba next year. You’ve got to take that next step. Some of the things you can’t control. You can’t control getting wrecked at Michigan when you got a fast racecar.

“You can’t control tonight in a race where you really did a great job. Came here, won the pole, finishes second in Stage 1, earned a bunch of stage points. He put himself in a position to keep knocking down that total. Chris [Buescher] was on the ropes. But then the speed went away a little bit and that’s another problem with this. Sometimes they don’t do a good enough job of staying on top of it and the car fades a little bit. You gotta stay on top of that. They got back in traffic there and got caught up in a wreck.

“Bad luck, but you’ve gotta stop putting yourself in those positions where you’re at Michigan and you’re in the middle of the pack with a fast car. Sometimes that’s unavoidable with pit stop cycles, but too often it seems like they find themselves in these spots where they shouldn’t be, and bad things happen to them.”