It is no secret that Bubba Wallace has always been under a microscope. While often finding himself in heated situations in the past, things have been a little different of late, and he has shown a sense of composure so far.

This has also resulted in a turnaround of sorts for his performance. With five races done for, the No.23 driver for 23XI Racing stands second in the points table, finding himself in the top 10 four times.

While speaking to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, he expressed a desire not to be in the headlines for all the wrong reasons and to focus on things that improve his performance, things that he and his team went over during the off-season.

“I’ve always said at the start of every year that I want to be out of the headlines. I always find myself in it, and I’m assuming that’s just my personality. I say one thing, and it takes off, or I do one thing, and it takes off.

So, I’ve just been trying to hit on everything we’ve talked about in the offseason of what we need to do better,” he said.

He also mentioned how managing races is crucial, and to further make sure that they continue to improve on their mistakes, and to stay on top of things when it is their day.

“The biggest thing that stood out in the conversation between me, Charles Denike, and Dave Rogers was that our floor-to-ceiling ratio is way too big. We need to raise the floor on the bad days and keep raising the ceiling for when it’s our good days, and make sure we’re on top,” he added.

Fatherhood and Finding A Hero In Charles Denike

Last year, 23XI Racing announced roping in Charles Denike as the new crew chief, and that seems to have brought about a quiet transformation of sorts for Wallace.

It began when Wallace won the Daytona Duel qualifying and then broke his 100-race winless streak with the Brickyard 400 victory at Indianapolis.

Wallace mentioned that the change in his mindset has been brought about by Denike. In Kansas last year, when contact with Denny Hamlin in the final set of corners resulted in a fifth-place finish for Wallace, it was Denike who told the racer that there would be both good and bad days in racing, and that it wasn’t meant to be in Kansas.

However, another aspect that has really been noticed by Wallace and others is the change fatherhood has brought in him. After the birth of his first child in 2024, he seems calmer, cooler, and more collected than he's been at any point in his NASCAR career. Tyler Reddick, in particular, has pointed out the difference he sees in his teammate.

“Fatherhood will change you in ways you don’t expect. I think he’s got a good approach right now and am excited to see how he continues to grow and change as a dad and how that affects racing for him. He seems like he’s in a good place right now,” he said.

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

Written by

Aaradhya Singh

Edited by

Kaamna Dwivedi