2021 NASCAR Preseason Power Rankings, No. 19: Bubba Wallace

Wallace has not had an easy climb to this level at all compared to many other drivers currently in the NASCAR Cup Series. Many forget his start in NASCAR’s top three series began back in 2012 with Joe Gibbs Racing, driving the No. 20 car in the Xfinity Series for four races before moving to the Camping World Truck Series full time in 2013 for Kyle Busch Motorsports. In total, he drove two full time seasons for KBM and scored five wins, including four in a stellar 2014 campaign.

After it seemed like his career was going to take off, KBM unexpectedly released Wallace at the end of the 2014 season, and he was in search for a new start somewhere. Roush Fenway Racing came knocking on his door and hired him to drive the No. 6 full time in the Xfinity Series in 2015. The beginning portion of the season was a struggle for Wallace, but he salvaged a down season and scored 14 top 10s and finished seventh in the points. This was impressive for a 21-year-old driver who did not have much experience in the Xfinity cars.

His big break came in 2018 when he was hired to drive Richard Petty Motorsports’ iconic No. 43, but in his three full-time seasons for RPM, Wallace was unfortunately not able to score any wins, though he definitely progressed as a driver. 2020 was his best, finishing 22nd in points and scoring a career high five top 10s.

After securing several sponsors during the season in 2020 and having several impressive runs in the No. 43, Wallace was picked as the driver for 23XI.

Wallace has shown the talent to be in Cup, even back in 2017. Before his Xfinity team shut down, he was on quite the consistent streak; from races two to six, he finished sixth in every race. It boosted him to fourth in points, which was his best career points position at the time.

While it has been a somewhat tough road for Wallace, there have been several flashes of his talent and ability being displayed. Take for example the 2018 Daytona 500. The race was poised to be a good one after the thrilling races the previous few seasons. After an eventful race and a crazy last lap turn of events after Aric Almirola was turned by eventual winner Austin Dillon, Wallace followed Dillon and finished second, his best career finish to date.

The Daytona 500 was not the only race Wallace had a shot at a win in Cup. Fast forward to the 2019 Brickyard 400, when Wallace nearly took a win away from Kevin Harvick after a strong run the entire race. He ultimately finished third, his best finish of 2019.

A new team is generally not expected to win right out of the gate, and to be fair, it has not happened in a very long time. However, can 23XI and Wallace change that? They seem to have the right people and the right equipment to do so. It will be a difficult feat, but Wallace has been ready for this year since the minute the checkered flag dropped at Phoenix Raceway in November.

My gut feeling is this team will perform very well in 2021 and will be close to making the playoffs, if not making it. Wallace will compete for top 10s and some top fives, but winning in the first year with a brand new team has been next to impossible. He is an extremely good superspeedway racer, though, so I would not be surprised if he competes for wins at all four races at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.

Do not put it past this team to win, even with all that said. Hamlin and Jordan have tons of knowledge, and Wallace brings a lot of sponsorship. These days, that equals performance, so be ready for these guys to be strong at times.

Wallace will likely ultimately come up just short of making the playoffs. While his team will be strong several weeks, there are other teams at the moment who will come out of the gate for 2021 and be ready to win. The competition is extremely strong this season; I would not be surprised if we have 14-15 different winners. If this is the case, and Wallace is not one of those winners, it will be difficult to qualify for the playoffs for sure.

No matter what, this will be his best career year in Cup, by far. It may take two to four years to work his way into being a top five contender with that team, but I feel confident in his ability for this season at least to help them have a strong first year.